To Stand on Two Feet
by Verse Gypsy
Summary: Part one of a trilogy. OC Deke "Mustang" Flynn, new to Gotham City, learns to stand up and be the man she knows he can be. The story is largely a budding romance and origin story, and gets lemony later on. This is set four years after YJ S1. Reviews are always appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

I own none of this. I wish I did, but I don't. I guess I own the Original Character, but only barely so.

I'd appreciate any feedback and reviews, will do my level best to communicate with all of them, and offer thanks ahead of time.

* * *

March 10th  
Gotham City, Harbor District  
2127 EST

"Move it ya assholes! The boss gives a bonus if we're done early!" One man called out to the rest of his crew. He wasn't lying, though he also wasn't about to tell them the bonus was incentive to get done before there were any Bat problems.

Throughout the warehouse, several men worked to load boxes into the back of a semi. They all had the look of rough men, dressed for the miserable cold of a Gotham pre-spring. A few operated forklifts as well, but two men set themselves apart.

One, dressed in Versace, held a tablet computer, and would occasionally direct one of the crew to a specific parcel. He did so politely and efficiently. Most of the crew called him the model on account of his pretty boy looks. The other, garbed similar to the crew, was a big man, swarthy and outright ugly. As the foreman of the crew, nobody thought to mention that part to him. Named Fred, he knew he was in charge, and took the time to scratch his ample belly while he did nothing but bark orders and chew on an unlit cigar.

As they worked, their pace properly motivated, cars pulled up outside. Most were plain affairs, common on any road. A modified Hummvee, however, joined them. Jet black and chrome, lowered way down, it set itself apart rather effectively. They sat there, lights off, for a few moments, before people began exiting their vehicles. Several did magazine and press checks on firearms, one rookie racking his shotgun twice, only to watch a shell drop and draw the laughter of the rest of his crew.

"Shut it," A voice called out from the Hummvee. This was followed by one of the doors opening, and a titan of a black male human exiting. The Hummer, upon his egress, sprang up several inches. This man ran his hand over his mane of cornrows and then adjusted his tie before cracking his knuckles.

"Let's do this." Brick announced, his deep red suit blending to black in the Gotham darkness. Behind him, his crew followed quietly. Once at the door, Brick grinned a cocky grin, and kicked the bay door of the warehouse, causing it to fracture and splinter, blowing out well wide enough for several of his crew to join him in the firefight they'd decided to pick.

Of course, it was at this moment that a silent observer, tasked only to see what boxes Fred's crew were after and to plant a tracer on the semi, knew she had to do something.

Batgirl immediately dropped several small spheres into the center of the room from her vantage point in the rafters. Upon impact, they immediately began hissing smoke, quickly obscuring the room and giving her the advantage when she dropped into the middle of things.

It was a mercy for costumed crimefighters, especially those without invulnerable skin, that many casual mooks couldn't afford high quality manufactured firearms. Several times as she waded through the battle, she could hear people swearing at jams, magazines falling out, and even a misfire which ended disastrously for the shooter.

As she worked, her margin of safety began increasing as well. It started with a lot of slipping around cover to hit one person at a time, but in less than a minute she was combo-ing these people, dropping two and three as she passed. Batman would be proud of her.

That is, until all hell properly broke loose. She wasn't sure at first what was happening, but she began hearing other people cry out, and several sounds of impact. She knew Brick was nothing to sneeze at, but the sheer mass of these sounds seemed beyond even his prodigious abilities to do harm.

As her smoke screen began to dissipate, several things became clear. One, there was a lot of blood, more than should have been expected in this dustup. Her eyes, trained to be perceptive and intuitive, quickly caught several holes in boxes, holes which were leaking. In addition, as the fight dwindled down, she could hear other people, some moaning, others screaming or crying. It didn't take much to put two and two together to realize people were being trafficked here.

Another smacking sound, this one wet and dull, drew her attention more fully around the room. It was her, a dazed Brick, a cowering man in a knockoff Versace suit, and a single person, floating a few feet off the ground.

He was about as tall as Superboy, but broader. Long dishwater blonde hair floated around him as though he were under water. His clothes were ragged and his shoes were worn to near nothing. He looked like another of Gotham's homeless to Batgirl, but she didn't recognize him from any of her volunteer work.

"You," The floating man said, pointing at the pretty fellow. A gesture and this pretty man was brought face to face with the angry homeless fellow. "You're responsible for this." He said in a voice which carried through the warehouse.

"N..n..no, no I'm not!" Pretty man said. "I only work for…" was all he got out before his face went slack. He remained that way just a short second or two before he snapped back to reality.

"Lying doesn't become you Preston." The floating man said, his simple hand gesture turning into a crushing one.

Batgirl, unsure how to tackle the probable psychic, did what she did best. She observed. The look on the ragged man's (Boy, if she was being honest. He looked like he was probably right around her age) wasn't a look of true commitment. His fingers twitched as he squeezed the man he called Preston, not the steady calm of a practiced killer. His shoulders shuddered as he went about the process of trying to crush his victim. It was clear to her trained eye; he didn't have it in him to kill this man.

"STOP!" she called out, realizing that was her best way of ending the threat. "Do you really want this man's blood on your hands?"

The floating boy stopped squeezing, actually almost dropping Preston, at her exclamation. "Why not? He's had plenty of people killed and he's been selling people for a while now. He's a piece of shit, he deserves to be flushed."

She could hear it in his tone, he wasn't trying to convince her, he was trying to convince himself. "So, you kill him, just like that? Answer death with more death?" She said, slowly approaching him, hands out and a bit to her sides. Her tone was more confident than she felt. Nobody else needed to get hurt here, and one misstep of language was all that stood between this man facing a courtroom or a morgue.

"He'll walk, he's got some badass lawyer." The floating boy drawled, his accent becoming pronounced in his agitation and divided attention. "Three days from now and he's back out here doing it again, only this time maybe he's got somebody you love."

That was it. He'd tipped his hand. "He took somebody you love, didn't he?" Batgirl replied gently. She was within a few feet from them now and had stopped her approach. "That's why you're doing this."

The floating boy shook his head in frustration. "Yeah, and now he's going to answer for it." He said before resuming his crushing.

"We can't find them if you kill him." Batgirl offered. "They might still be alive. He can answer questions now, he can't if he's dead." She watched his demeanor soften again but he still hadn't released this Preston person.

"I went through his mind," he offered. "He's a blind middleman. Ain't got anything to tell."

"I know the questions to ask," Batgirl retorted. "I can help you find whoever it is you're looking for, and you don't have to become a murderer to do it."

That did it, she hoped. The boy casually flung Preston into the side of the truck, but his heart wasn't in it. The pretty man bounced a bit and landed face down, not moving because of self-preservation instead of injury. As the boy tossed Preston, he also lowered himself to the ground, the motion a bit clumsy, like he still wasn't in full control of his powers.

"You promise? You'll help me?" The homeless looking boy asked, almost suspiciously. "I'd appreciate it."

Batgirl was going to reply, but motion out of the corner of her eye stopped her. She turned just in time to see Brick's fist coming straight towards her, and then, she didn't see anything else.


	2. Chapter 2

March 11th  
Gotham City  
2143 Hours EST

Gotham Metro was rarely a quiet hospital, but the ER commotion quickly grew to a magnificent level. The charge nurse looked up from her computer screen, prepared to call the next name, when someone in a costume came floating in on their back. It took a moment, but the presence of breasts and long red hair were a pretty clear indication she was looking at Batgirl, someone who'd been a rumor among the criminals brought here after meeting Gotham's own protectors.

"S'cuse me!?" A fellow said, coming in behind her. "She's hurt pretty bad!"

Almost immediately the hospital staff sprang into action, wheeling a stretcher under her unconscious form. The attending was among them and began assessing the damage immediately. Massive trauma to the face was obvious, her breathing was shallow and ragged, and pupillary response was abnormal.

"What happened to her?" She asked, turning to face the person who'd brought her in. He sure didn't look like anyone from the League, at least the ones she saw in the news.

"Some really big man hit her a couple times, twice in the gut and then once really hard in the face. " The boy with her answered as he lowered her gently onto the stretcher with a slow and gentle gesture. He followed as they wheeled her back, and he was relieved to note they weren't trying to stop him.

"Abdominal injuries and possible internal bleeding," the attending said, her tone calm, cool, and professional. "We've got to get this getup off of her."

As they got her into a trauma room, one of the nurses whipped out a pair of scissors, and began trying to cut her costume off, but the effort was futile. The armor weave was designed to stop anything short of a large bore rifle round. The nurse glanced at the attending with a baffled and almost sad expression on his face.

"I got it," The homeless looking boy said as he held out a fist, knuckles pointing down. He took a deep breath, and flared his fingers open, and immediately, her uniform split apart into a few large pieces, which fell to the sides. What the boy saw, as he was responsible, was the formation of a sheet of telekinetic energy across her body, in the empty space between her outer uniform and the athletic gear she wore beneath it. That energy changed shape, forming ridges along appropriate lines, and these ridges in turn shot up, mere molecules thick at the edge, separating her uniform. These lines also extended to her mask, but stopped at the eyes. She deserved that much privacy, and there was enough of her face exposed to assist breathing If necessary.

Of course, the medical personnel were shocked at this, but felt no need to waste time. The nurse with the scissors cut away at the thin black tank and shorts she wore, exposing her now nude form. The man found no arousal at this because of the way her torso looked. The armor had spread some of the force of the impact to her body, but it had caused a radial bruise which started low on her left rib, and ended somewhere around her right shoulder, coloring from almost black at the center to purple on her right breast.

The man turned away at this, feeling uncomfortable looking at her like that. He was only halfway in the doorway to begin with, but he fully exited the room. Standing outside, he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to expand, pushing into the trauma room.

"Need an ultrasound to check for internal bleeding…"

"Get a surgeon prepped for the OR…"

"Somebody make sure the cops are on the way…"

"O Neg, we need O Neg…"

"She's so young looking…"

"Poor girl, where was Batman?"

"We'll get his statement first..." and this was linked to a focus on him directly.

That one snapped him out of his mild trance. He looked and saw a pair of plainclothes police officers, their GCPD badges on chain around their necks. One was a slightly tubby ginger bearded fellow in a dated but clean suit. The other was a pretty Latina woman in denim and a sweater.

"Montoya, check on Batgirl, I'll talk to this guy." The ginger man said as he gestured towards the man who'd brought Batgirl in. Still in his attentive state, the man could tell that this detective ( _Bullock…_ ) Bullock was curious, a bit judgmental, but not concerned for his personal safety.

"Yes officer?" The boy said, following Detective Bullock to the coffee machine off to the side of the ward. He waited until the detective had his cup in hand before pouring his own.

"What's your name kid?" Bullock asked pointedly. It didn't take a psychic to know he wanted to get this over with and back to proper Gotham city police work, aka cracking some skulls and running some proper leads.

"Deacon Flynn sir. Most call me Deke." Was the answer, and not the way Bullock expected it. He was prepared for some crackheaded, barely intelligible reply. The kid had some kinda education under him. This might go quicker than he'd expected.

"What went down?" was Harvey Bullock's next question, finally getting around to breaking out a notepad and pen.

Deke gave a modified version of what had occurred, strongly playing up Batgirl's involvement and creatively omitting several of the details of his own behavior. If Detective Bullock noticed him lying, he didn't show it.

"You a meta?" Bullock asked next. "Meteor freak? Android? Alien?" He added, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. "The ER desk said you were floating her in."

Deke paused and took a breath before he spoke. "Yessir. I'm a, meta, I suppose."

"You League, or something like it? Work with Batman? You don't sound local." Bullock continued, sipping his coffee as he did so.

"No sir, I'm not in the Justice League, and I've only been in Gotham about three months." Deke replied. Three miserable months where he couldn't land a job, lost all the clothes he wasn't currently wearing, and was living in an alley behind a restaurant. The only good was Miss Halston, who ran the outreach program, and she'd gone missing a couple weeks ago, which had been what set him on his originally destructive course.

"Where you staying?" Bullock asked next. He'd want more answers from this guy before it was all said and done, and he didn't trust any statement given to him. He didn't care if it came from Jim Gordon or the Pope, he'd run it down for sure.

"Here sir," Deke replied, gesturing somewhat ineffectively. "I'd planned to stay here until she woke up."

"Why'd you wanna do that?" Bullock asked, legitimately surprised for a moment.

"Besides the heat, roof, and running water in the bathroom? She helped me, and she shouldn't be here alone. They're leaving her mask on, so they don't know how to notify her family. Nobody deserves to wake up in a hospital alone." Deke replied honestly.

Bullock merely shrugged, took out his phone, and shot a quick picture of Deke. "Don't skip town." He said before walking off with the woman he called Montoya.

Of course, Deke had given a fake surname. He was also convinced he looked so dramatically different from any photo taken of him before his arrival to Gotham that the cops wouldn't be able to piece anything together. If he was being honest with himself though, the name he'd given actually sounded pretty good. In a moment of blind commitment, he chose to keep that name.

"Young man?" The attending physician said, catching Deke completely off guard. He turned to look at her, catching the pressure of calm optimism radiating from her. It was a serious relief. He also took the time to actually read her name badge.

"Yes Doctor Shen?" He replied, turning his gaze towards her eyes. That feeling of optimism kept rolling off of her, so powerfully he had no need to reach out to feel it. Even her facial expression was confident. It was a nice change from the rest of the night.

"Batgirl is headed towards surgery. Her damage is pretty severe but we were able to start treating her before it got out of hand. It meant the difference between months of recovery versus a week or so." Doctor Shen said to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder then, unknowingly opening herself up to him. In an instant he saw her and the trauma team working, felt their determination as they used a portable ultrasound to guide a long needle into her abdomen to draw off blood that was exerting pressure on her organs. He saw the surgical consultant poke in, get the evaluation, and take off back towards the OR to get things prepped. Gotham Metro did not mess around.

"Thank you ma'am. I'd like to stay here when she's out if I could." Deke asked politely.

"Why ever for?" The doc asked.

"I owe her." Deke replied simply.


	3. Chapter 3

March 12th  
Gotham City  
0052 EST

She lay on her hospital bed, still under significant doses of sedatives. She was still hooked to several machines, but none of them happened to be replacing any vital functions, so that was a plus. If it weren't for the fact that she'd been blindsided by what amounted to a bulldozer, she'd look peaceful, with her rich red hair splayed out on the pillow.

Deke had taken advantage of her room having a full private bath, and had showered and done some very budget laundry in the toilet. Besides that, he hadn't left her side. He was cold though, since he sat in ratty gym shorts and a tank top, the only two garments he had left among the several layers he rotated out daily. That was, in his opinion, the problem with Gotham. It always felt cold here. He'd arrived at the end of December and even on the verge of spring, it didn't feel any warmer than it did on New Year's Eve. He wrapped his arms against his chest, forcing respectably large muscles to contract and shift a bit.

In fact, it felt like it was getting colder as he sat there. Annoyed, he turned to the window and was surprised to see it sitting open. When he turned back around, he had his reason why.

"Tell me what happened." The Batman said as he stepped around the privacy curtain. He was joined by another man in black, and a teenager in a Robin costume.

"What's to say? I was looking for someone, heard there were people getting snatched up and I could try that warehouse. I got there, it went sideways, and she got caught up in it." Deke replied. He was immediately defensive, but he wasn't sure why.

"I heard the police reports," Batman said, taking a step towards the young man. Behind him, the other two were checking over on their friend. "It was more than that."

"Ok, I showed up ready to kill somebody." Deke said, his drawl slipping out of frustration. "I was going to kill the man responsible, and she talked me out of it. That's how she got hurt. She wasn't trying to save my life, she was trying to save my soul."

Robin looked at the young man in black, who simply narrowed his eyes a bit while he looked over Batgirl's chart. "Who were you after?" this young man said, setting her chart back at the foot of her bed. "Nobody's in shape to talk yet."

"Preston," Deke said, leaving out exactly how he knew the man's name. "Pretty boy, blonde, a bit taller than me."

"He's talking about Preston "Frenchy" Blake!" Robin exclaimed, his voice low but excited. "He wasn't at the crime scene though."

Batman gave a slight not at that before turning back to look at Deke. "You've done your part. She'll be fine." He stated. It seemed like that's the only way he spoke, just dictating fact.

"I'd like to thank her personally when she wakes up sir." Deke offered. "She really helped me more than I can explain."

"Suit yourself Marshall Deacon O'Connelly of Greenup Kentucky. Also, Miss Halston was among the people recovered." Batman said, letting that bit of information hang as he stepped out the window. A quiet banging noise soon followed. Robin was out right behind him. The other man waited a moment though.

"He's horrible at this part, but we all thank you." He said, almost a polar opposite of Batman. This guy was genial, friendly even. Of all three, he thought this was the person whose bad side he didn't want to be on. The nice guys were generally the most dangerous.

Deke muttered a quick you're welcome, still shocked at how easily the Batman had dropped his full name and hometown. He'd just been another kid looking to the big city three months ago, and for the past 8 weeks he'd been legitimately homeless. Yeah, he was a psychic and all, but he hadn't done any kind of crimefighting, or much of anything really with his powers before tonight. That Batman could just know him like that, well, it was scary as hell.

Speaking of them, he thought to himself, Deke flicked his hand and closed the window. He then got up and scooted his chair directly up against the bed. Upon sitting back down, he placed his hand atop her wrist, and relaxed into himself.

Step one, he reached out and brushed her thoughts with a delicate touch. His mother had been a nurse and she'd mentioned before that some post-op painkillers can give people awful dreams, so he toyed about a bit, guiding her subconscious mind towards pleasant emotions. It's the best he could do without getting really invasive, something he wasn't too fond of.

"And now, for my next trick," he said with a weak grin, before going back to work.

Most people assumed that being psychic meant reading minds and lifting things from a distance, and that was it. While not necessarily wrong, it was a very narrow view. In fact, though Deke wasn't actually aware of it, some modern scholars were firmly backing a theory that Superman's abilities were psionic in nature. The very breadth and scope of what a psionic could achieve was quite mindblowing.

But, Deke was solid at three techniques and that was about it. Telepathy, Telekinetics, and Psychometabolics. It was that last one he applied to the situation at hand. He tapped into Batgirl's biorhythms, and began feeling out where they were 'wrong'. With manipulation both subtle and overt, he began pushing them towards a correct channel. He couldn't miraculously close a gaping wound before someone's eyes, but he could absolutely help the body heal itself more efficiently. Once he did that, he resigned himself to the suck that was about to come.

Pushing into her own natural energy flow, he slowly began resetting his own biorhythms to hers. Almost immediately he began feeling her pains, and he lacked any medication to dull it. It was his fault that she'd gotten into this mess though. He'd pay the penance through sympathetic sensory input.

Energetically aligned, he functioned as something of a battery for her, allowing her body to do its job longer without exhaustion. Again, it wasn't miraculous healing, but instead more of a boost. It was, however, a boost which tired him very quickly, and moments later, he fell asleep.

* * *

He slept for a few hours before nature woke him up. Outside, the sun was beginning to color the drab Gotham sky, and the clock in her room confirmed it was almost 5:30 in the morning. Of course, none of that mattered. He'd gotten greedy at having free access to clean water, and it felt like he'd drank almost as much as he'd bathed with.

After answering the call, he took the time to put his now marginally cleaner clothes on. They were stiff from being wrung out and dried over the shower curtain rod, but they smelled more of hospital bar soap than body odor so he wasn't complaining.

Deke was about to go back to his seat when he heard the door to her room open. He froze, an instinctual response he'd developed early on while in Gotham. When it had remained quiet for a few moments, he relaxed and just waited.

Outside, an older man had approached the bed. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his beaten old trenchcoat, and a sad expression was plastered to his face, his frown enhanced by his old school mustache.

"Barbara, honey, I wish I didn't have to see you like this." He said, finally approaching Batgirl. He carefully fluffed the sides of her pillow, and brushed his fingers through her hair lovingly. "I know why you do it, but this is why I asked you not to. I just can't handle this. I can't lose you too."

His voice was tinged with tears, and the sorrow and fear he was outputting was enough to force Deke to completely shut himself off. Hearing what sounded like a parent lament of the injuries of their child wasn't something he wanted to experience today. This was especially true when those injuries were his own damn fault.

Deke levitated himself up a couple of inches from the floor, crossed his legs, and slowly lowered himself to the ground. Taking a seat telekinetically was considerably quieter than doing so manually, and he didn't want to disturb the very private moment occurring in the room. He felt enough like an asshole as it was already and wasn't keen on compounding it.

He sat there for almost an hour, silent and still. He took the time to reach out with his mind, encompassing the entire hospital. In this perspective, people were like stars in the night sky, each one twinkling with the thoughts and emotions that made up human consciousness. Nothing about any one felt malicious or cruel, and satisfied by that, he pushed his thoughts out, a simple desire for something positive. Each person would interpret it differently, and have no idea it was someone else encouraging it. What mattered is that everyone felt it.

Finally, he heard the man's voice more clearly, more confident. "I love you Barbara, your old man loves you so much. You're a tough girl though, tougher than me. I'll try to come back tonight after work and you'll already be up walking again."

This was followed by footsteps and the sound of the room door shutting. Deke stood up, massaging his sore knees and back, as he walked back into the room. "I'll pretend I didn't hear him use your real name." He said to the sleeping woman.

"Good," she croaked out. "I'd hate to beat the memory out of you."


	4. Chapter 4

March 12th  
Gotham City  
0645 EST

"You're awake!" Deke said with a surprise. He hadn't expected it to be honest, but the medication in the drip was empty, something he hadn't paid attention to. "Do you want me to get your dad?" He asked with a bit of a pause, not exactly certain that the man was, in fact, her dad.

She shook her head. "No, he'd be fawning all over me," she said, her voice already sounding stronger. She was certainly resilient. "Plus I can surprise him when he comes back later."

Deke gave a gesture halfway between a shrug and a nod to show general agreement, and poured her a cup of water. "Here," he said, tucking a straw into the cup. "You probably want this."

"I do," Babs said, taking some slow sips. Absentmindedly, Deke left the cup hanging in the air in front of her while he sat down to pull his second pair of socks on. Her memory of last night was pretty clear, and one thing had been bugging her, up until Brick had decided to physically vandalize her. "So, who are you?"

Deke gestured and the cup returned to her bedside tray. "Deke Flynn." He said simply, actually about to extend a hand towards her before he realized the absurdity of the gesture. For what it was worth, she cracked a weak smirk at him for his trouble.

"Why are you here?" She asked after a moment of trying to readjust herself into a more comfortable position. "Did you bring me?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding. He opened his mouth to continue, but stopped himself. When he spoke next, it was after a long pause and a deep sigh. "Last night, I was dead set on killing that man. I wanted to do it. I was scared, but when I saw what he was thinking, I couldn't control myself. You talked me out of it. You could have hit me or something, whatever it is you Bat people do, but you didn't."

At this Deke turned to fully look her straight in her blue eyes. "I owe you, big time." He said. "That guy messed you up pretty bad for it too."

"What happened to him?" Barbara asked, still trying to get herself more comfortable. She was still in a fog from the painkillers, but she had the presence of mind to hit the elevation button on her bed. It whirred a moment while she fiddled with the positioning, finally comfortably sitting up.

"I bounced him hard off about eight things in the warehouse before I called 911 on one of their cell phones. I'm pretty sure the cops got it handled after that. Batman and Robin showed up with some guy in black and blue last night too."

"Nightwing," Barbara said. "He's bad for introductions."

She would have said more, but a nurse stepped in. She was immediately shocked to see Batgirl awake, and quickly shooed Deke out while she paged the on call doctor. It didn't take long before there was a small flurry of medical professionals heading into her room. As the son of a nurse, he knew what kind of work they were doing, and with that many, they'd be all over each other, no matter how seasoned they were.

So, it sort of made it the perfect time to get out for a while. He poked his head back into the room quickly, and satisfied all the attention was on Batgirl, he made a come hither gesture towards his coat, which slipped silently across the room and into his waiting hands. With that done, he strolled down the hall, and towards the elevator.

Once inside, he hit the ground floor button and calmly waited, surprised to see nobody getting on or off the elevator car his entire trip to the basement. Wait, that wasn't right. He knew he'd hit the ground floor button, the thing was still lit up on the button board, but the display showed basement level three.

Feeling worried after his retaliation on Brick, Deke brought his defenses to bear, an act he'd only done once before since coming to Gotham. Immediately, a sheet of telekinetic force enveloped his body, the only gap in his armor being his nostrils to allow him to breathe. After that, he pushed his senses out further, hoping to catch a mental glimpse of a potential attacker. Finally, he lifted himself a scant millimeter or so off the ground, and locked himself into place. To any casual observer, he probably just looked tense. One of the upsides to manipulating motion and force with his mind was the invisibility of it all.

Of course, when the doors opened to the parking garage and all he saw was a tall, lanky dark haired young man in American Eagle, and a younger, similarly dark haired teenager in a plain red hoodie, and the only mental sensations he could get out of them were guarded curiosity and unguarded amusement, Deke felt like he'd gotten himself dressed up for nothing.

It was probably the sunglasses that did it though. They both wore them, expensive ones too. They were just enough to cover the eyes, like a domino mask. "We've met, haven't we?" Deke asked as the two other people just stood there.

"We have," The older one said. "Take a walk with us please."

Deke shrugged in agreement, and followed them out into the parking garage. Once they'd strolled well away from the elevators and employees and others catching a cigarette break, they turned to properly address him.

"What are you doing with your life?" The older of the two finally asked, point blank. He didn't have the judgmental tone of the people who ran the shelters, assuming him just another junkie. It sounded closer to a job interview question.

"Mostly, trying to find a job and getting a roof over my head." Deke replied. "I didn't expect the market to be so thin when I got here."

"You want a job?" The civilian dressed Nightwing asked him, with a smirk on his face. "The pay is terrible, but the side benefits are nice."

The guy rolled through town with Batman. He was Justice League. Deke pondered for a moment if the offer was on the up and up, but there was too much evidence to suggest that, yes, it was a legitimate offer.

"Sure, gotta be better than what I've got now." Deke said. He'd pulled his senses back to himself when he saw it was Nightwing and Robin, which meant he was now kicking himself for not having a chance to guess the details of the job. "What is it, actually?" He added, the excitement getting the better of him.

By way of an answer, Nightwing handed Deke a key ring with a single key, a cell phone, and a roll of cash. "You keep Batgirl company during the day. There'll always be somebody not far if there's trouble, and one of us will be around at night. This key is for an apartment here in Gotham, corner of a hundred and fifth and Wiseman, apartment five dee. The money is for food, sundries, and a change of clothes. Play this straight and we'll talk to you later about more."

"She'll figure out why you're there in a day or two," Robin added, his tone remarkably mature. "And she'll probably be mad about it. If she does, just keep nearby but out of the way."

"Oh… okay. Thank you." Deke said, surprised at the money he was handed. Keeping a superhero company for a few days in the hospital didn't seem to warrant the amount of cash he was given, but he was earning it. It was a good feeling for sure. He was going to say something else, but a car screeching around a curve too fast caught his attention. When he turned back, Nightwing and Robin were gone.

"Well, that was cool." Deke said, legitimately amazed by the vanishing act. Nobody was around to see it, but it was probably the first time he'd smiled in over a week. Things were looking up.


	5. Chapter 5

March 12th  
Gotham City  
1935 EST

Deke had spent the rest of the day with Batgirl, which was largely just keeping out of the way of the doctors and making small talk with her. She was a kindhearted soul, and sharp as a tack, even sailing along on the painkillers she wasn't really keen on taking. She was also frighteningly determined, a trait she displayed in spades. Come hell or high water she was going to bathe herself the moment they removed the IV, and she did, though not without a fair measure of swearing and contained sounds of pain. Deke had remained respectfully outside in the room proper, listening in case of an emergency that never happened.

She was guarded about who she really was under the mask, which he'd kind of expected, but she still had stories to tell, which she shared almost as reward for coaxing more of Deke's history out. As a nobody to the world, he told her mostly the truth, occasionally omitting or changing details he wasn't ready to share yet. There really wasn't much to tell though. He was the only child of good parents who did their best by him. His mother was a nurse at the local hospital, and his father was a medical corpsman in the Navy. His dad had died in Afghanistan in 2008, and he'd lost his mother to breast cancer a year ago. Their life insurance policies had been just enough to pay the remaining bills off, with some left over for Deke to go to school. He'd had other ideas about that though, and had taken off to Gotham. How he got his powers, he kept to himself. He liked her well enough, but there were some things he wasn't quite prepared to discuss.

She'd trained as a gymnast before she decided to become Batgirl, completely independent from the Dark Knight himself. He hadn't taken it well, of course, but she'd been determined to wear the cowl. It had taken him some time to warm up to her, because it was Batman and that's just how he was, but he'd finally accepted her (more out of realizing she was more stubborn than he was, according to Barbara). From there, he trained her further, and hooked her up with a way better costume than the one she'd made at home. After a few years, she was terrorizing the criminal element of Gotham city with the rest of the Bats.

Finally, visiting hours were up, and Deke wished her a good evening and promised to come by tomorrow. She'd asked for some things to read, and Deke said he'd be happy to bring them for her. After that, he wandered out of the hospital, found a blind alley, and launched himself up into the air.

In flight, he likened himself to a muscle car. In a straight line, he was fast. He couldn't turn worth a damn though, which annoyed him to no end. He had incredible fine motor control when he was telekinetically manipulating an object, unless it was himself.

So, to steer and navigate, he largely had to bring himself to a dead stop, reorient, and then press on. He'd tried all the tricks, like slowing down into the turn, and then speeding up afterwards, or even generating sheets of telekinetic force to act as wings. Nope, he was simply stuck flying like some dopey puffin.

It was exactly that technique that he used to get himself near Gotham's mall. He landed a couple of blocks away in another alley and hoofed it the rest of the way in. Minus breakfast and lunch in the hospital cafeteria, he still had almost all of the $1500 he'd been handed. His first instinct was to go buck wild. Despite everything else, he was still just an 18 year old boy. He fought that desire down though, and picked up most of his clothes and all of his toiletries at the big box store which served as an anchor location for the mall. He didn't skimp on a new pair of boots though. He'd grown up in Kentucky coal fields, if there was one lesson he'd learned, it was never get cheap boots. He also bought a couple of nicer shirts and a couple pairs of slacks, in case this gig went south, he'd need interview clothes. Deke also got wash and trim of his mop of hair, plus a shameless splurge at the Chinese buffet to finish out his evening at the Gotham mall.

Deke went back to the alley he'd landed in, pulled up Google maps on the phone he'd been given, and found that the apartment building was preloaded as "Home" in the phone's profile. Once he'd oriented himself, he took off, launching himself that direction. An upside to his powers, even though he flew like a tossed brick, he could at least carry all of his purchases in safety. Another alleyway landing later and he entered the building.

It wasn't opulent by any means, but it was clean and well maintained. The neighborhood was also pretty nice, far enough away from downtown to avoid the gentrification, and also a good bit away from the worst areas of the city. Nobody was about when he entered, but Deke kept his shopping bags close at hand, in case he had to grab them to keep people from noticing that they were, in fact, floating alongside him.

Deke took the elevator up to the fifth floor, exited, and found the apartment. With another quick glance with both eyes and mind, he used his powers to pull the key out of his pocket and unlock the door. He quickly entered, and was rather happy with what he had seen. The apartment was already furnished, with what looked like Ikea furniture. He set his purchases on the black sofa in front of the 42 inch television, and set about exploring.

The whole place seemed kind of staged to sell the place to prospective renters, with the starter furniture and very simple white appliances and tile counters in the kitchenette. Only one bedroom, with a queen sized bed, but a respectable closet and half bath. The full bathroom was pretty standard tub and shower setup as well. To be honest, it was still probably the nicest place Deke had ever spent the night. It even had its own small over and under laundry setup. He checked for detergent, and satisfied to find some, he threw his old clothes in to be properly washed.

While his clothes went through the cycles, he opted for another shower. The feeling of it, and the shave (despite still not being able to grow much more than bits of fuzz) afterwards was heaven. What was possibly the most wonderful thing, however, was that the apartment was actually warm. Unarguably, comfortably, and consistently warm. After his shower, he could walk around in cotton sleep pants and socks, and he wasn't on the verge of freezing. It was kind of amazing.

The feeling did make him feel pretty guilty though. He'd made a couple of friends while he was out on the streets, people not as lucky as he. It was all the more reason he was glad Batman and his people found Miss Halston. Her outreach program was, according to the newspapers, one of the best in the city. Several of the homeless community would agree with that statement as well, especially the veterans, for whom she had a special place in her heart.

Deke sat himself down finally, and opened a bag of Chicken Whizzies. He absentmindedly munched on them while flipping through the stations on the television. The news was simply that, news. They showed the League doing some kind of opening ceremony for some school in Coast City, Carol Ferris was giving an interview about some rocket project her company had, and then a lot of banal stuff. Deke got tired of it, pulled up the menu and sought out a classic rock music channel. Satisfied, he wandered into the bedroom and laid down on the bed. He was out within minutes.


	6. Chapter 6

March 13th  
Gotham City  
0750 EST

Deke had just finished breakfast in the hospital cafeteria, though he left disappointed at what they called biscuits and gravy here. For the hundredth time that day, he tapped his pockets, to make sure the phone he was given, the bit of money he'd brought with him, and the apartment key hadn't been lost, and strolled into the hospital bookstore.

Batgirl had asked for a list of magazines. Women's Fitness, Shape, Bust ( _not_ what he thought it was going to be, sadly.) and both Popular Science and Mechanics. Secretly, he hoped she'd read the Pops first so he could take a crack at them, especially the mechanics, which had some big article about survival on the cover.

At the register, he noticed some small stuffed bears, some of which had the cape and cowl so well known to Gotham. Cracking a smile, he couldn't resist grabbing one, and added that to the magazines and snacks he'd picked up. With these in tow, he headed up to Batgirl's room, and was nearly floored by what he saw.

The room was filled with those little bears, though some had Superman's iconography, others bore the Flash's lightning bolt, one wore a star spangled bustier, and dozens of others. In addition, there were enough flowers here that he was momentarily worried Poison Ivy had come to pay a visit. They certainly made the room smell nice though, and a couple of the arrangements looked like they'd come out of magazines.

More than that though, Batgirl had company. His first thought was, she had some seriously hot friends. A black haired beauty with some piercing blue eyes, a black girl with a very punk rock inspired haircut, a bombshell blonde that had trouble concealing some seriously impressive arms, and a freckled redhead that had turned plain jane into a proper fashion statement.

"I uh," He stammered. "I can come back." He finally said before heading towards the door. He'd quickly have his foot in his mouth without meaning to at this rate, and he couldn't be sure if these girls were also superheroes, so he absolutely didn't want to earn their ire.

"No, it's okay." the black haired girl said, her voice high pitched and sweet. "We actually have to get going. Lots to do today." She added, her tone very kind. She actually looked really familiar, but Deke couldn't figure out from where.

All four of them smiled at him as they passed, but the freckled redhead paused a moment to really look at him. He half raised an eyebrow in response, not sure if she was flirting, but she too finally strolled away, though not before placing a hand on his shoulder and whispering a thank you.

"You look buried." Deke said to Batgirl as he walked in. At some point in the night, she'd swapped her cowl for a more comfortable domino mask, and somebody had brought her some pajamas, amusingly, covered in little Batman symbols.

"I feel buried." She said, her voice sounding just as strong as when he'd met her. Her jaw still had a massive bruise, but it had visibly come down. When she took his offered magazines, she narrowed her eyes and gave an almost predatory small smile. "Where'd you get these anyway?"

"Bookstore on the first floor, why?" He asked, suddenly feeling on the wrong end of her temper.

"You said you were broke last night." She pointed out, and that's when Deke's stomach fell around ankles at the realization that he'd been played. "But you came in today in new clothes, your hair is trimmed, and you used some kind of soap and deodorant this hospital doesn't stock. Who told you to keep watch on me?"

"Ok, so, before you come out of that bed," Deke stammered, hands in the air. "They asked me to keep you company and to be handy in case of trouble. It was never about babysitting you." This last bit he picked up off the fury she was mentally expressing. It was honestly rather amazing at what people thought so loudly that a psychic didn't actually have to intrude to discover.

"I'm a grown woman!" She spat, though it was clear she wasn't aiming that directly at him. "I'm not some freshman in a homemade costume anymore!"

"No," Deke said, taking a gamble on using his confident voice. It would either piss her off, or surprise her enough that he could get his point across. "You're a woman who clearly has people who love her. Probably misguided, but hey, I still would have come to talk to you even if they hadn't asked me to."

Batgirl calmed down a bit at this. When Tim had gotten his leg broken in a fight against Killer Croc, she'd absolutely ignored his complaining to take care of him and keep him company. He was family, and of course Dick and Bruce were too. Still, they could have at least told her, instead of making her figure it out. That was too far, and she would have her revenge.

"Wait," She said, her vindictive side taking a back seat to her analytical mind. "You would have kept coming here?"

Deke nodded and smiled at her. "Yeah," He began, back to using his regular quiet voice. He pulled his chair around to face the TV with her. "You're the only friend I have in Gotham."

The weight of the statement hit Batgirl. "C'mere." She said, and when he leaned over closer to her, she placed a chaste kiss on the side of his head. She noticed the blush rise to his cheeks and turned her head away on the pretense of readjusting herself to crack a grin of her own.

They spent the day chattering more, this time Deke did his best to draw out stories of her time under the cowl. These came easier, and he was impressed to learn she'd met every single member of the Justice League. Yes, Superman was that big of a Boy Scout. Yes, Green Arrow thought that 90's goatee was cool. Yes, the Flash was that cheesy. Yes, Wonder Woman was still surprised that people didn't immediately make eye contact with her sometimes. But, most of all, yes, they were incredible people.

Around lunch, her Doctor came in. She ran a couple of quick checks on Batgirl, and then went over her chart. "We're releasing you." She said, a statement that surprised both Deke and Barbara. "The surgery we had to perform was extremely non-invasive, and you've bounced back remarkably well. Plus we've been able to keep the media away from this but we don't know how much longer."

There was a 'But' coming though, Deke could feel it from the Doc. "But Batgirl, you're not like Superman, or Wonder Woman. This lifestyle stands a very good chance of killing you, one way or the other. Your x-rays showed a history of trauma, and injuries like this start adding up. You're young, but by the time you're thirty, you could be in a wheelchair or worse if this kind of stuff keeps happening to you."

Barbara frowned at this before replying. "This is what I do, Doctor. This is what I believe in." She said with a quiet intensity.

"I thought that'd be your answer," The Doc replied with a sigh. "But I had to try. We'll be sending you home with a couple of prescriptions. One is an antibiotic, the other is a painkiller. You were quick to have us pull the drip, but your body needs more time to heal and rest. Now, these aren't powerful, but I still caution against driving, and I'm insisting you take a week away from your extracurricular activities. I will find the signal and use it to tell Batman himself if I have to."

The woman meant business. No doubt about it. She also made good sense, as much as Barbara didn't want to admit it. "Yes doctor." Batgirl said in a contrite tone. The doc seemed the type to carry through with that threat, and she absolutely didn't want one of Bruce's lectures.

"Deke," Barbara said, looking at the boy sitting next to her. "You can go ahead and go. I know there's somebody nearby if something were to happen, and I've got to get dressed and ready anyway. I hope I'll see you soon though."

"Absolutely." Deke replied. He would find a good reason to make it happen. As an afterthought, he added "You want me to get all your bears and stuff gathered up for you?"

An idea struck the Batgirl at his request. "No, take them to pediatrics please." She said. She certainly had no room for them all, but it didn't hurt to brighten a kid's day.


	7. Chapter 7

March 13th  
Gotham City  
1445 EST

After she'd been left alone, Barbara gathered some of the clothes that M'gann had brought her, and headed to the bathroom. She undressed, and took a moment to look at the combined handiwork of Brick as well as the physicians at Gotham metro.

Her breasts were still tender and bruised from the way her armor distributed the impact, and the coloration matched her ribs, abdomen, and hips. If she were more comfortable with her body, she'd be willing to take a couple of mirror selfies. It was painful, but there was a certain art to it all.

The surgical incision was less than half an inch, due to the advanced robotic surgical tools Wayne enterprises donated to the hospital. It was only held closed with liquid stitch to begin with. Her jaw was heavily bruised and still in a lot of pain, and she'd certainly have to see a dentist to make sure none of her teeth were going to just randomly fall our or shatter because of this. More than anything she was grateful they hadn't had to wire her jaw shut.

The urgency of time put an end to her self-evaluation though. She dressed in probably the most unflattering underwear she owned, though there was no denying how comfortable they were. After that, plain black pants, shirt, hoodie, and sunglasses completed her ensemble. She got her utility belt and pieces of her uniform, triggered the biometric lock, and used her comm unit to contact the cave.

"Yes?" A polite toned Englishman answered. "Your discharge is imminent I presume?"

"Yes it is. I'm getting picked up from the hospital by friends on the team, you don't have to send anyone." She said to the man who'd doubled as a Grandfather to her, and several others.

"Of course Mistress Barbara," he said, the kindly voice on the other end had said to her. "Do feel well soon. The cave is quite less pleasant without you."

"Love you too Alfie," She said with a smile and ended the call. Nobody could see it, but on the other end of that call, a normally reserved English butler smiled warmly.

Her discharge itself was mercifully quick. The hospital pharmacy had filled her prescriptions of Amoxicillin and Norco, since she couldn't exactly walk into a corner pharmacy with prescriptions made out to Batgirl. Her bill was, according to the discharge nurse, being handled by the Wayne foundation's Good Samaritan trust. They gave her several printouts of how to care for herself following her surgery and stay, and wished her well.

After that, it was a simple matter to wait until the hall was busy. She slipped out with well-practiced stealth, and made her way to the roof. It looked no different, unless you knew what to look for, which of course she did. She finally spotted the camouflaged outline of M'gann's bioship, and began walking towards it. The back hatch dropped and she stepped aboard.

She was, of course, immediately rushed by her Martian friend, who wrapped her up in a careful hug. "Are you ready to head back to Mount Justice?" She asked, her green and freckled face bright and cheerful.

Barbara shook her head. "No, I can't. Can you take me to a hundred and fifth and Wiseman please?" She asked, setting the hospital bag on one of the jump seats in the back.

"Hello Megan!" Miss Martian said, bopping herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand. "Of course you just got benched! You've got to take time to heal!"

"Thanks for reminding me." Barbara grumbled as she strapped herself into a seat.

M'gann got the Bioship going on auto, but set the speed to a more casual cruise. "I'm sorry," She said sweetly. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad. Really, all things considered you actually look really good."

"Thanks M'gann. How's the other job been?" Babs asked her friend, happy to talk about the life, something she couldn't do with the same level of intimacy in the hospital.

"Oh, it's been great! We've run several missions since you came back to Gotham for the summer. It's been quiet in Mount Justice though, most of the team is kinda doing their own thing. Wally and Artemis moved to Palo Alto for school, Kaldur is still off soul searching, the usual stuff." M'gann replied. She was about to say more, but the bioship came to a gentle stop.

"Looks like my stop. Call me sometime, I've got a week to do nothing." Barbara said, sounding a bit glum at wasting an entire week. The worst part was, she couldn't be seen around her dad, not with the still very obvious injuries she'd sustained. It wouldn't be hard to put two and two together after that. Of course she'd slip away one evening when she was sure he was home, probably spend a day or two there, and maybe even convince him to take some time off as well.

"Will do! I'll tell Nightwing to give me a day. He'll understand." M'gann replied, and walked to the rear hatch of the bioship with her friend. Another careful hug and she dropped the hatch, letting Barbara step onto the roof of the apartment building. She let herself in through the roof access door, and gave a small wave as she heard the bioship quietly zoom off into early evening sky.

As she headed to apartment five dee, a quiet safehouse that Batman had set up a couple years ago, she called her father with the news of her discharge. He was obviously relieved to hear it, and understood why she couldn't immediately come home to him. They ended the call by making plans to have dinner in a couple of nights.

Really, all Barbara wanted tonight though, was to kick back, and not be bothered by anyone or anything. This made opening the door and seeing the boy who Dick had basically hired to keep her company, a surprising sight. "What are you doing here?" She near yelled, seeing him busy with something on the couch.

Acting like he'd been caught in the act, Deke froze for a moment, then finally turned and looked at Barbara. "He gave me a key to your apartment, didn't he? I'm in your home right now and I didn't know it." He said, his tone somewhere between terrified and puzzled.

"No," Barbara said, fully stepping inside and shutting the door. "No, you're not in my apartment. I just didn't expect Nightwing to put you up here." Sighing to herself, she set her large bag from the hospital down on the kitchenette counter and headed towards the living space.

"What're you doing anyways?" She asked as she walked around the couch, where the boy was busy folding laundry. It was a silly question, but his body language wasn't indicative of someone just folding clothes.

Deke went back to his work as he answered her. "Oh, I'm just getting my stuff ready. I figured Nightwing would have called me since you got released, telling what else I needed to do, but since he hasn't yet, I wanted to be ready to go to a hotel. I'll be out of here in about ten minutes though."

Barbara was actually a bit surprised at his attitude, her tone of voice making that perfectly clear. "Why are you in such a rush?" She asked as she unzipped her hoodie. "I told you this wasn't my apartment. It's just a safehouse. I can't be around my dad because of the circumstances of the other night."

Deke frowned at that. "Which was my fault." He said while rolling socks. Barbara finally sat down on the couch, picked up one of his rolled pair of socks, and bopped him on the head with them. "Hey!" He said in surprise, turning to look at her. "What was that for?"

"Quit blaming yourself, alright? I'm just as much at fault, and I'm healing up really well anyway. It's fine." To punctuate the point, she put her hand on his, forcing him to stop messing with his clothes. "Besides, if I'm going to be stuck here, I might as well have someone to talk to."

Deke barely registered her words. He'd had to grow up really quick over the past year, but he was still an eighteen year old boy, and a beautiful girl was touching his hand. He had to fake a cough to clear his head. "Okay." He said, and stood up. "Are you hungry? I bought a few groceries."

Barbara shook her head and pulled her phone from her pocket. "No, I want Indian food. There's a place a block away that'll deliver. What do you like?"

Deke made a puzzled noise before answering sheepishly. "I've, uhm, I've never had Indian food. Grew up small town and all."

The words were almost offensive to Barbara. "Two questions. Do you trust me, and how much heat can you handle?" She felt nothing else need be asked.

An almost Cheshire like grin spread across the boy's face. "Yes, and yes."

"Good."


	8. Chapter 8

March 13th  
Gotham City  
1813 EST

Indian food, at least, according to Deke, was made for him. He loved the flavor of Basmati rice to begin with. That, coupled that with the intense heat of a few of the dishes Barbara had ordered and he was soaring happily. The sauces were like nothing he'd ever eaten before, but there was also a very comforting feeling about it.

Across from him, and only slightly less happy, was Barbara. It wasn't often she was able to get Saravana Bharvan, and their lamb vindaloo was still heavenly, especially after the hospital food. Across from her, Deke was laying into the chicken and Kozhi curry, a dish she'd considered using to subdue Killer Croc.

"Can I ask you something?" She finally broke the unofficial speech moratorium, but she felt it was for good reason. When Deke nodded, not wanting to talk with his mouth full, she continued. "Did you do something to me?"

Deke nearly choked on his food at the question, but since she was casually sipping a mango lhassi, he figured she wasn't accusing him of something horrible. "Like what?" He finally asked, honestly needing the clarification.

"The docs were all so puzzled at how fast I was healing. I stay in pretty good shape, but even I noticed it was unusual. Nothing else could have done it that I know of, so I thought I'd ask you." She'd honestly been wondering it since she woke up able to speak in the hospital. There's no way she should have been able to.

Of course, Deke's reaction told her all she needed to know. His shoulders slumped a little bit and he sat his naan down so that he could rest his hands on the table. "Yeah, I did. I've used my powers on you three times."

Okay, that was a surprise. Three times? She'd been told he'd floated her into the emergency room, so she assumed that was once. He admitted to doing something to heal her, so there was twice, but what was the third? "Care to unpack that?" She asked. Across the table, he still looked almost terrified. She was going to have to figure that out.

"Yeah. So, I used my powers to bring you to the ER, I encouraged your body's natural healing response, and I gave you good dreams. Mom used to say post-op patients had the worst nightmares from all the drugs." Deke answered, looking down at his food for a moment before deciding to pick up his naan again.

"So you were in my head?" Barbara asked, and about this she was legitimately worried. She'd received training on how to handle someone digging around in her thoughts and memories, but it sort of relied on being conscious to do so.

Apparently her tone was more hostile than she'd planned it to be, as his hands went up when he answered her. "No, not like full scale in your head. I was more," He said, and took a bite of his dinner, using the time to try and find the word. "It's closer to me leaning on the door frame than actually entering. Dreams aren't hard to manipulate, and all I did was aim yours somewhere more towards the nice."

Barbara, hand on her phone in her lap, blindly texted M'gann, asking if his claim was true, or even possible. Her only verbal reply was an "Oh.", and she bought some time by eating some more of their Indian takeout. When her phone vibrated a moment later, she looked down, and was both pleased and relieved to see M'gann's answer was in the affirmative. Of course, she also wanted to know why.

"Trust, but verify?" Deke asked, having never looked up from his own plate while she did all this. "Your suspicion is very loud."

"Batman taught us never to trust at all, but I'm friends with Martian Manhunter's niece. She verified your story." Barbara was immediately struck by how police procedural she sounded when she said it, and couldn't contain a laugh at herself. Her dad had certainly rubbed off on her. "So, how did you heal me? Are you some kind of mystic healer too?"

Deke shook his head. "No, and I'm glad you're sitting down, because this is kind of a long explanation. All humans, they generate their own bioelectric field. The Chinese were the first to really document it, and they called it Chi. The whole foundation of acupuncture, acupressure, and even chiropractic is founded on it. When a person is injured or otherwise stressed, it throws this completely out of whack, and it takes your body longer to repair itself, or worse, can start doing additional harm."

He paused to take a drink before he continued. "So, I can manipulate that as well. I changed my own body's , well, chi I suppose, to match yours, and then I touched your hand and used the contact to align them. After that, it was just a matter of setting myself back in order and you followed along. The body wants to be healthy."

To be honest, the explanation made a lot more sense than some of the other explanations she'd been given for the random superpowers of the people she worked around. "And that's it?" She asked.

"Kinda like tuning a radio, yeah."

"If I was that out of whack, did it hurt you to match me?" Barbara asked as she mulled over his explanation.

"Oh yeah, sympathetic nervous response is very real." He said around a mouthful of Kolhapuri Chicken.

"Was it bad?" She asked, concerned. She put on the costume to help people, to make life better. The idea that anything she did would cause pain to someone who didn't deserve it was a real, constant concern of hers.

"Not really," Deke lied. "It doesn't exactly feel good, but it isn't horrible." Feeling ready to burst, and noticing she'd pushed her plate away, he began clearing the table. Because he was so full, he did so from the comfort of his seat, cleaning up using telekinetic superpowers. He wondered if the Flash did the same thing with his superspeed.

"Now you're showing off," Barbara said, poking a finger towards him. "If Nightwing doesn't call you back, I may know someone who could use your housecleaning skills."

Deke smiled for a moment, trying not to laugh with his mouth wide open, but lost the battle. Yeah, he was absolutely showing off, and he continued to do so by folding one of the unused napkins into a paper flower, which came to rest directly in front of Barbara. She'd actually taught Tim how to make them not that long ago, being sure to embarrass him horribly by telling him it would impress the girls.

As their leftovers began swirling around overhead on their way to the kitchen like they were in a Disney movie, the thought struck her. Was he flirting? Was she? It was a question to answer later though. She was starting to feel the ache hit her, and it was growing progressively worse. As the last of their dinner mess found itself coming to stop where it belonged, she got up and got her medicine from her bag.

"Am I still out of whack?" She asked as she walked back into the living space. Deke followed her and sat down in one of the chairs, giving her the full run of the sofa. At her question, he shifted his perceptions, not seeing the girl but her existence within the world.

"Oh yeah," He answered with a drawl. She wasn't sure about him. He was all unconfident and shy, wouldn't make eye contact, and wouldn't really speak up, until she pressed him about his powers or he was actively using them. "Let that pill you just took start working and I'll realign you again if you want."

Barbara nodded. The aches were getting bad, and she knew it was from eating too much. The food expanding in her stomach was exerting pressure on her diaphragm, which in turn put pressure on her ribs. That feeling, in turn, made her want to crawl in a hole and die.

"Can I ask you something else?" she asked. Deke agreed and she continued. "Where'd you get your powers?" And just like that, his switch flipped again. He went right back to the timid guy she'd been mostly dealing with. She'd dealt with enough mentally unstable people that she could recognize the symptoms, and she felt bad for asking.

Deke mulled over his response for a moment. "I trust you, okay? I like you pretty well too. I'm just not certain I'm that comfortable with any single living person though. It's a touchy subject."

Barbara respected that, though she was a bit disappointed. Deciding to change the subject, and as something of an experiment, she asked another question. "Have you thought about doing the mask and tights thing?"

"I did. I figured I'd wind up getting in the way though. I guess I wouldn't back down if some kind of trouble came knocking, but I don't know if going out and looking for it would be smart." Deke replied. He stood up after answering her question, and quickly excused himself to the bathroom to change into his pajamas. He also took the time to silently berate himself for flirting. This was neither the time nor place, and she was way beyond whatever league he was in.

Upon returning to the living space, he could see Barbara laying on the couch, doodling circles in the air with her fingertip, along to the beat of the music playing on the television. She hadn't even bothered changing channels, didn't seem to care that much either.

"I think your meds are working." He said, and took a seat on the floor beside her.

"I think they are," Barbara said, and pulled her sunglasses off, tossing them onto the coffee table. "Much better."

Pointedly looking away, Deke handed them back to her. "You sure about that?"

"I'm not in the public eye, you don't even know my last name, and I'm not so stoned I'm making poor choices either." She retorted, taking the offered sunglasses from him and tossing them back onto the coffee table. To prove her point, they landed in exactly the same position, in exactly the same place as they had been the first time she'd tossed them.

 _Message received_. Deke primed himself, grateful to have some music to help his focus. Once more, he intentionally disrupted the patterns of his own biorhythms, and forced them to match Barbara's. It was less bad than the other night, but there was still a lot of disruption.

Deke tensed from the inevitable sympathetic response, the pain a reminder of the work he had in front of him. When that was done, he placed his hand on the couch cushion, and waited until she'd placed her hand in his. There was a moment where he had to realign himself to her, because her touch had caused his own biorhythms to jerk about.

When he began making adjustments to his own natural energy field, he heard Barbara make a noise. It occurred to him that he'd never tried this trick on someone who was awake. "Hurt?" He asked, his voice distant.

"No," Barbara murmured. "It feels weird, but it doesn't hurt." And indeed, it did feel strange, though how much of that was hydrocodone and how much was whatever he was doing was hard to tell. It felt like her whole body was rippling like ocean tide. There were people in Gotham who'd pay top dollar for the sensation, she was sure of it.

"Squeeze if it does." Deke said, and refocused on his effort. There was certainly something intimate about what he was doing, though not sexual. He was, quite literally, turning the both of them into one energetic being. He knew he was on the right track though, when his body began to hurt worse. The sympathetic response was an etheric red, while the restorative was similarly green. It was motion and counter motion. An equal action and reaction.

To Barbara, the experience was nothing short of trippy. Her body went numb and came alive in pulses, at first in proper measure, but after a time the moments of numbness were growing shorter in duration as well as frequency, replaced with more of the sensation of ocean waves. Her pain began to abate too, but again she couldn't be sure if it was the painkillers or whatever he was doing.

They remained like this for over four hours before Deke finally released her hand. He'd burned through everything he'd eaten and then some, his body metabolizing his dinner at a dramatically increased rate to supply the needed energy to do what needed to be done. It wasn't enough that he realigned her centers of energy, but he'd also pushed into it, giving a needed bit of extra oomph.

On the sofa, Barbara could only mutter a single "Wow." She felt absolutely incredible. The fogginess of her pain medication had worn off about halfway through, and had left her completely clear and lucid to what had occurred, and she'd enjoyed it. It was like getting a massage, relaxing in a hot tub, and eating a fine dessert all at once. She still hurt, but the pain had diminished to tolerable levels, but what was most important, her breathing was no longer agonizing.

Deke pulled himself up, and it didn't take her level of training to realize he'd lied to her earlier. "Sit back down." She said, her tone making it perfectly clear this was neither a suggestion, nor open for debate. He could barely stand, and he was holding his torso exactly like she'd been.

"It'll pass in a minute, I promise." He said, and was forced with a terrible decision. Either face her ire for ignoring her, or having to clean up after an accident. Humility won out in the end, and he went to the restroom.

In the short minute or so he was in there, the sympathetic pain had passed, his body finally remembering it wasn't the one that had been injured. He washed his hands and came back out, only to find Barbara waiting by the door. "My turn." Was all she said, so he moved out of her way. Already her stride was better, more even, and most importantly, unstressed.


	9. Chapter 9

March 14th  
Gotham City  
0025 EST

Inside the bathroom, Barbara chastised herself. When Deke had stood after doing whatever it was he'd done, he'd turned on his way up, and there was a moment that she'd hoped he hadn't noticed, where she had to physically stop herself from leaning over and kissing him. It was some kind of instinctual imperative, she was right there, he was right there, and her body wanted to act without her permission.

As she had an internal argument with herself, a cold chill ran up her spine. He'd admitted he'd used his powers to touch her mind once already. Could he have planted a suggestion, made her want to do it? Or was it just her, wanting to fix a damaged person? She wasn't some princess, and while she certainly felt grateful for his help, she very clearly believed going to bed with him in thanks was not happening. She was also able to stop herself, which didn't seem to jive with malicious psychics. Their psychological profiles tended to involve a lot of instant gratification.

Wait, why was she thinking about going to bed with him now? She let out a grr in frustration as she washed her hands. She was firmly against being a one-nighter kind of girl, the never ending mission had too many anonymous moments as it was, and being that kind of intimate with a stranger just wasn't for her.

That's when the thought hit her. She was frustrated with him because he was withholding from her. He didn't want to tell her about his powers, and while he'd been forthcoming about his life growing up, she knew there was a lot he wasn't telling her. It didn't help that she was also frustrated at being benched. She was frustrated she was stuck in one of the safehouses. She was just plain frustrated.

When she exited the bathroom, she was surprised to see Deke passed out on the couch already, and the bedroom door open. He hadn't gone so far as to turn down the sheets, which was just as well. Barbara had no intention of going to sleep anytime soon. She needed to clear her head, and had one sure fire way to do it.

She went into the bedroom, opened the closet, and pulled the carpet up by a corner. Tucked within a hollow on the floor was a safe, and after entering the correct code, she was able to collect her spare costume from among the few contained within. It was an older getup, when she was still using the purple and gray, but it would fit well enough for her to do what she planned to do.

Barbara silently slipped out of the window, and took a leap. She rode the wind a bit on her cape before firing off a line, and just let herself soar through the city, welcoming the focus she needed to ensure her safety, and the thrill of just getting out into the night.

While it was common knowledge that Gotham wasn't exactly the safest place in America, it had gotten a lot better once Batman had begun his crusade. The threats were bigger now, sure, but they were much rarer. The real threats to the casual citizen, like gangs and basic corruption, were well on the decline. Batman had broken the back of the mob here, and it showed.

Now, a little past one am, the city was really starting to come to life, with neon splashing electric color against the otherwise cold concrete. As Batgirl swung about, there were people below her. Couples on dates, teenagers out just wandering for fun, someone taking their dog on a late night walk, and even a small party in between two apartment buildings, with Christmas lights strung about.

Barbara's trip through the city found her alighting gracefully on the roof of a building directly facing the Gotham Arts Center. Of the several museums in the city, this one was her favorite. As a little girl, her dad would bring her here for the interactive exhibits, and just let her wear herself out in all of it.

It also appeared to be of someone else's interest that night. She still wasn't exactly up to a hundred percent though, and she approached the shadowy form with caution. This person revealed themselves rather abruptly however.

"Batgirl." A sultry voice purred. Catwoman turned to look at the woman who usually had a much better success rate of sneaking up on her.

"Catwoman." Barbara replied as her body reflexively moved into a more defensive stance. Instead of attacking her though, Catwoman just stood up fully and walked towards her, hands half up.

"I'm not robbing the place," She said, her voice still that sultry purr. "Nothing interesting in there anyway." When Batgirl didn't relax her stance, Selina stopped approaching her and sat down with her back against the roof access door.

"Word on the street is Brick worked you over. He doesn't exactly take it easy on people." Selina said as she fished a paper bag and a thermos out of her small duffle. Almost condescendingly, she made a show of it, just to prove she didn't have anything illegal in the bag. "Sandwich?"

"I ate earlier." Barbara said, cautiously taking a seat against the low roof wall across from Catwoman. "Why are you out here anyway?"

"Would it surprise you to know Bruce asked me for a favor? Even paid me for it too." Catwoman said, her purring tone more emphatic. When Batgirl didn't respond, likely out of shock at how casually Selina had dropped Bruce's name, she continued. "He gave me one of the Kahndaqi Mau statuettes. I'll go after the rest eventually, but I really think it's his way of flirting."

Barbara didn't want to think of the implications in that statement. Mostly she was upset with Bruce for letting Selina into his life as much as he had, but also because he hadn't told her that he was outsourcing while she was recovering. She watched as Catwoman unwrapped her sandwich, and began nibbling at it, almost daintily.

"Okay, you're killing me Batgirl, what's your deal?" Selina asked between bites. The girl looked halfway between annoyed and confused, and her silence wasn't helping matters much. It was easy to forget she was dealing with a teenager, until moments like this.

Batgirl sighed and leaned back against the wall, trying to stretch the tension and ache out of her core. She was going to pay for this trip tomorrow, she just knew it. "I needed to clear my head," She finally answered.

"Oh?" Selina asked with an arched eyebrow and a sly grin. "Trouble in the Bat family?" When Batgirl shook her head, Selina kept speculating. "Home then?" another shake of the head. "Still not gotten your invite to the League?" This earned a scowl before another shook head. "Boy trouble?"

Batgirl huffed in frustration before nodding. "Yeah. It's embarrassing." She really wasn't particularly comfortable talking about the situation, but there wasn't exactly a huge pool of adult women she could talk to. At least Catwoman was better than Harley to discuss the situation with. "I'm confused."

Selina popped open her thermos and handed it across. Batgirl's nose was immediately greeted by the smell of hot coffee, and not the cheap stuff either. "I'm going to let you in on a secret." Selina told her, taking her thermos back once Batgirl had taken a sip. "There's a reason men never argue when women kept saying they were simple creatures. They're just as complex as we are, but they let us confound ourselves trying to figure them out."

Batgirl made a face, realizing Selina was right. "I don't understand him, and I don't know if he's doing it on purpose to make me interested, or if he really is just like that." She said, accepting the thermos back for another sip.

"If you're already that worked up, I'd say you are interested. Have you slept with him already?" Selina asked point blank, and was rewarded by Batgirl spitting her coffee out in shock.

"God no! I'ma, I mean, that's, uhm, no. No I haven't." Batgirl sputtered. It wouldn't take thermal optics to see the heat rising in her cheeks in sheer embarrassment. She didn't discuss sexual matters with M'gann or Cassie most of the time, let alone a woman she'd put in prison.

Selina let an amused smile creep across her face, the Batgirl's reaction was worth getting coffee on her new costume. "Good," She said, and watched her reaction. "What kind of boy is he?"

Barbara also wiped herself off, still furiously embarrassed. "He's just a shy boy from somewhere down south. I can't get him to really talk about himself besides banal small talk."

"You're very lucky. Whether good or bad remains to be seen though. Either he's just not that self-absorbed, or he's playing with you." Selina replied. "What does he want from you?"

"So far, nothing. He hasn't tried anything with me. He's been nothing but a perfect gentleman, but he's not patronizing about it either. He's seems genuine enough, but he's just so damn confusing. He said he liked me, and I like him so far, but he won't act." Barbara said, speaking as much with her hands as with her voice.

Catwoman put away her sandwich wrapper, washed the last bite down with a drink of coffee, and leaned in towards Batgirl. "Then you my dear, need to sit him down, and ask him. Don't let him escape. Straddle him on the couch if you have to, but get your answer."

Barbara blushed again, and Catwoman's suspicions were confirmed. "If things go far enough, yes, you can ask me about how sex is really supposed to work. I'm sure Bruce isn't looking forward to that conversation, and I can at least give you some good tips."

Thoroughly embarrassed and a bit uncomfortable, Batgirl stood slowly. "I'm not going to straddle him, but I'll ask." She said as she loaded her grapnel guns with fresh cartridges.

"Don't let him waste your time," Selina called to her as she swung off the roof and back into the city.


	10. Chapter 10

March 14th  
Gotham City  
0205 EST

Barbara slipped back in through the open window of the apartment silently, saw Deke still laying on the couch, and stepped into the bedroom to change. Somehow, the conversation with Selina had left her more confused before, and it shouldn't have. Up until she'd blurted out that she did like the boy, she wasn't exactly sure if she actually did or not. It shouldn't matter; she was single and having someone she could be comfortable with sounded like a nice change of pace.

Now in her pajamas, she stepped back into the dim living space, and was surprised to see a couple of changes. First, her bottle of painkillers floated alongside a bottle of water within arm's reach of the door. Second, Deke's arm was now lazily draped over his eyes.

"Enjoy the show?" Barbara asked with an arched eyebrow. She took the medication and water floating in front of her and walked to the couch, pushing his feet away from the end cushion so she could sit.

Deke gave a lopsided grin, arm still over his eyes. "Not much show to watch. I saw you undoing the costume and figured you might appreciate the privacy." He finally moved his arm though, drew his legs up and sat up completely. "I woke up to look for something for heartburn and saw the open window. I figured you wouldn't take being benched too well."

Barbara brushed her hair out with her fingertips, took a breath, and looked at the boy on the other end of the couch. "Before this painkiller hits, I am going to ask you two questions. I am doing this so there is no question I'm thinking clearly." Her tone of voice left no doubt she meant business. "The first question I am going to ask is, do you like me?" She looked him dead in the face as she asked, her blue eyes meeting his green.

This surprised Deke a bit, and it left him fumbling for an answer. "Well, I mean, you're really," He began, but was cut off. Barbara slid over a bit and leaned towards him, placing a finger on his lips in a shushing gesture.

"Yes or no. Do. You. Like. Me? You can give me reasons later. Just answer please." She said, before lifting her finger from his lips.

Deke took a breath and gathered himself. His face contorted a bit as he considered his answer. Finally, he told himself to hell with it, and answered. "Yes. I like you. I have fallen deeply in like with you."

A very sweet smile crossed Barbara's face. Relief came rolling off her in waves, a sensation Deke took to mean this was the answer she wanted. Deke also took it to mean that he wasn't the only one nursing an infatuation, but perhaps he was being hopeful. "What was the second question?" He asked tentatively, wondering where she was going with this.

"Why haven't you kissed me then?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. She didn't give him time to answer before she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. He wasn't her first kiss, but she didn't have a lot of experience either. It didn't seem to matter as he returned the effort, one of his hands moving down her arm to rest on her hand, the other hand went the opposite direction and came to rest in her hair at the base of her head. This had the added benefit of supporting her as she leaned.

Their kisses were more playful than urgent. They alternated between delicate pecks and nearly crushing their lips together. Their hands were busy too, touching each other's faces, running fingers through hair, and clasping together. For a moment, he inhaled deeply, filling his nose with the scent of her shampoo and the faint traces of her body spray.

He took the opportunity to place kisses on her check, careful not to press too hard. She was still bruised after all. In response, she placed a hand against his chest, surprised at the muscle she felt. He dressed in baggy clothing and before tonight she hadn't really considered what his body actually looked like under the oversized garments.

After almost a half an hour of this, she began feeling dizzy, and once again she wasn't sure whether to blame the hydrocodone or him. "Is this going to work?" She whispered into his ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"One way or the other, I plan for it to." He said, nuzzling her forehead. He kind of wondered if this is what the fairytale cartoons were supposed to be. He'd come to Gotham alone and hit bottom, and now here he was, clean, fed, and kissing a beautiful girl.

"What were the reasons I stopped you from telling me?" Barbara asked, still barely speaking into his ear as they embraced. "I'm an inquisitive girl."

She felt his shoulders bounce a bit as he laughed silently. "You're like wind in the trees, flowers at night, and warm summer rain." He answered, certain that the most honest way he could describe her would also be the most cryptic way.

Her lips parted as she placed another kiss on him. She wasn't perfectly sure she knew what he said, but she was quite certain she enjoyed hearing it. She was mostly good at keeping her ego in check, and she didn't spend her time looking for validation in life, but she couldn't deny being compared to forces of nature was a pleasant experience.

On a whim, she slowly pulled away and took his hand as she stood up. "C'mon. You're not sleeping on the couch." At his startled look, she clarified her statement. "Don't get any ideas, either. Your hands wind up someplace unwelcome, you'll know it."

Deke snickered at that. "I have no doubt whatsoever." He said as he allowed her to lead him to the bed. He pulled the blanket down and waited until she'd gotten into a comfortable spot before joining her. He couldn't resist a few more kisses, which she happily reciprocated, before nestling in to spoon with her.

It wasn't long before she'd fallen asleep, the exertion of her evening trip through the city and the pain medication were an effective combo. Deke remained awake, just smelling her hair and listening to her breathe while she drifted off. When she started snoring softly, he shifted his perceptions and observed her natural energy field, and was pleased by what he saw. She may have exerted still damaged muscles earlier, but it looked like she'd done herself some good. He didn't have to throw his anywhere near out of his own rhythm as he'd had to earlier, and the effort to realign her wouldn't be half as bad as before.

While he lay there, he wondered honestly how he was going to keep his word. Did she have some other guy pining over her? Did Batman disapprove of his people having relationships? Deke even wondered if he'd be able to separate her costumed life from her real one, and which of those lives did he fit into? Would he properly meet her dad, or was this a strictly in-costume sort of thing?

"You're in your own head again dude." He muttered to himself and just enjoyed the moment. With his chest pressed against her back he could feel her heartbeat, and her copper hair tickled his arm as she nestled into him. She was warm, and while she wasn't particularly soft, what skin was exposed was silky. He gave her one more kiss, just below her ear, and smiled when she made a contented noise.


	11. Chapter 11

March 14th  
Gotham City  
1030 EST

A sharp, short buzzing noise woke Barbara from her slumber. The first thing she noticed was being alone in the bed. Her heart sank at the revelation, and a stormy look crossed her face. "At least you didn't sleep with him." She told herself as she got out of bed, but the frown passed when she saw his pajamas laying in a folded pile on top of the bedroom hamper. That, in turn, reminded her that the buzzing that woke her up was the dryer.

"Deacon?" She called out, looking around at the empty apartment from the bedroom doorway. She couldn't hear the shower running, and the television was still off, so the lack of response indicated that she was, in fact, alone.

The second thing she noticed is that, comparatively, she felt incredible. Still in pain, but it had become much more localized to the specific points of trauma, instead of being the all-encompassing kind of pain she'd been experiencing. She even bent at the waist to touch her toes, and while it was a horrible idea, she didn't want to slap herself for trying it.

The third thing she noticed was the very bright sunshine streaming through the bedroom windows. Gotham had these rare spring days, where the temperature would jump and the usually eternal clouds moved away for the day. This gave her an idea. She might be benched from her work as a superhero, but that meant she had a day to do what she wanted, and she was going to take it.

She walked to the sofa and took her antibiotic, and what she expected would be her last painkiller. There was another full bottle of water waiting on her next to them. He wasn't waiting on her hand and foot, but the occasional kind gestures were probably better for her pride, she thought in a moment of honest self-evaluation.

Barbara went to the bedroom and got into the closet. All of the Bat family kept some street clothes in here. She chose her day's outfit, and selected some undergarments from the dresser. Not exactly lingerie, but she woke up feeling great, so she went with something more flattering.

After that, she went to the bathroom and undressed, pleased at the greatly diminished bruising. Her torso didn't look absolutely wrecked anymore, and her skin wasn't discolored all across her body. The liquid stitch on her surgery incision was mostly off already so she peeled that away and tossed it in the wastebasket. Everything was just good at the moment, and she ran with it.

When she got into the shower, she washed slowly, actually able to luxuriate a bit. The hot water felt like it was washing more away than just the basic sweat and dirt she'd accumulated the day before. She'd been dealing with a lot of negativity in her life lately. College was right around the corner, and she still hadn't chosen a major. Her friendships were largely built on lies and misdirections, so she couldn't share both aspects of her life with many people. Sure, Dick, Tim, and Alfred were wonderful, and she loved them dearly, but it was hard connecting with new people. The mission was also stressful, she'd put people away but they were always right back out, to do it again. It was honestly Selina who gave her hope that some people could actually reform, even if only a little at a time.

As she washed, she noticed something else. "Getting a bit fuzzy Gordon," she admonished herself. Sure, she had a pretty solid excuse for skipping the extended grooming, but the outfit she chose wouldn't conceal it, so she reacquainted herself with her razor and made quick work of it. The bending and twisting hurt, but her painkiller would take care of that.

Finally clean, she shut off the water and exited the shower. There wasn't a blow dryer here, something she'd forgotten to correct. Instead, she wrapped her hair up in a towel, and began drying herself off. As she did, the familiar fuzzy headed feeling began creeping in, so she quickly pulled her panties up and got her bra on, and left the bathroom to get dressed before she needed to sit down for her own safety.

She was in such a hurry she hadn't noticed she was no longer alone as she crossed from the bathroom to the bedroom. "Well, hello to you to!" She heard from the doorway of the apartment. Instantly, she felt heat and color rise to her cheeks as she pulled her outfit on, struggling with the towel around her hair. In annoyance, she yanked the towel off and tossed it aside.

Deke was similarly red faced as he stood next to the kitchenette, coffee and donuts still in hand but forgotten. He'd gotten quite an eyeful and was having a hard time processing his environment at the moment. When Barbara stepped out of the bedroom, she wasn't helping either. She was wearing a long, gauzy purple sundress with black and gold accents and strappy flat sandals.

"Damn," he muttered, fumbling to set their late breakfast down, and having a hell of a time doing it. Seeing him fumble over himself like that, being the shy boy that she was crushing on, make Barbara's angry embarrassment melt away.

She walked up to him, put her fingertips to his cheek, and kissed him. "Having a hard time thinking?"

Deke swallowed, suddenly salivating, and nodded. "That's, yeah, uhm," he stammered, now flustered from her proximity and her lips. She was intoxicating him with her scent, her ocean blue eyes, and her touch. He'd wasted all of his coherency on piping up when she walked out of the bathroom, and he'd done that mostly to let her know he'd returned.

Barbara kissed him again and pinched the front of his shirt, leading him to the small dining table. "Breakfast?" She asked as she looked in the bag he'd brought.

"Uhm, yeah." Deke said, trying to regain control of himself. "There's this place down the street called The Dark Roast, it's some kind of homage to Batman and the rest of you. I uhm I got Batgirl flavor coffee."

"I have a coffee named after me?" Barbara asked, and looked at the two very tall paper cups he'd brought in. She picked the one with his name on it, and held it up, giving him a questioning look. When he nodded and gave a welcoming gesture, she took a sip.

She wasn't one for iced coffee, but it wasn't too sweet, and it wasn't some poor excuse for coffee either, she could certainly taste the espresso, chocolate, and cinnamon. "It's good." She finally said, and picked up the cup labeled Babs. "What'd you get me?"

"Knight and Day," Deke replied as he set the donuts out for them to share. "They said it was their most middle of the road stuff. You don't look like a complicated coffee order kind of girl."

"Good guess," Barbara said, and picked up a caramel pecan donut. "Black and hot usually, but thank you for this." She took a small sip to join her bite of donut and found it good enough. The donut itself was amazing though, and she found herself munching on it absently.

"You're looking a lot better." Deke commented. "Did you sleep well?"

Barbara nodded at her, well, she wasn't sure if boyfriend was right, and her head was in no shape to puzzle that out. Between the excellent donut and the buzz of her medication, thought was off the table. "I did, and thank you for keeping your hands polite."

"Wasn't easy," He quipped "But for you, I was happy to."

Barbara poked the tip of her tongue out at him and tossed a stray pecan at him. Surprisingly, he caught it in his mouth. That's when she noticed something. He was sweating buckets, and while part of her wanted to make a joke about it being because he caught her in her underwear, she didn't want to be a tease. He was still wearing a huge sweatshirt, and she knew it had to be almost 80 outside.

"Were you cold this morning?" She finally asked, trying to figure out why he'd do that. "Or are you shyer than I thought?"

Deke frowned, and set his breakfast down. Barbara thought he was about to get up from the table and leave, but he just sat there, looking like he was struggling with something. Finally, he looked her straight in the eye. "So, when I was a kid, I was fat. Not like, a little baby fat, but really big. The kids were horrible about it too, and once they started in on me for being fat, they found more and more things to go after me about."

Barbara sat there and listened. He'd been there, helping her heal. Maybe this was a chance to help him heal as well. She placed a hand on his and gave a kind squeeze.

"So when I was a freshman, there was this girl. Her name was Kristen. She kept flirting with me and stuff, and I was confused as to why, but I didn't want to let an opportunity slip, so I asked her out. She said yes, and I took her to the mall, which was the only place to go for miles. When we got there, she wanted to go across the street. There was a water pumping station there, so it was private. Lots of teenagers went there. So, we go over, and when I get there, about five of her guy friends were waiting. They beat the shit out of me, laughing the whole time, even threw me in a creek."

Even if she wasn't crushing on the boy, Barbara still wanted to hug him. She waited though, only because he seemed like there was more to tell.

"So anyway, after that, I got really guarded, didn't really interact with anyone besides my mom and the other nurses and docs she worked with, and even they weren't always the nicest people, so I just tried to hide myself. Then, I got my powers, and my body changed, but I couldn't get my mind to. Kind of embarrassing for a psychic, right?"

"It's not embarrassing Deke." Barbara said and walked over to him. She kissed him again, and brushed his hair away from his face before kissing him again. A thought struck her, and while it might be a bad idea, and she might be digging herself into a hole if it backfired, she considered it worth the risk.

"You've seen me pretty close to undressed though." She said to him, pulling his hand to guide him to his feet. "My turn. Show me."

She could immediately see the distress on his face, and wanted nothing more than to find some time traveling hero so she could visit the past and beat some ass. She felt like a bitch for putting him into this situation too, and was silently hoping he wouldn't just take off. Still, she kept the best sultry look on her face, not sure If it was, in fact sultry.

Finally, Deke reached behind his head, grabbed the back of his shirt collar, and just pulled his shirt off. He stood there, bare to the waist, and still looking terrified. He was built like a monster though. Babs was reminded of Mal Duncan, who was an almost obsessive weightlifter. There didn't seem to be any fat on him either. Just the gathered little scars and imperfections a person gathers throughout life. She'd be lying if she didn't say there was a part of her that just wanted to touch him though.

"Deke. I work with superheroes. I've met some of the Justice League. You have no reason to be shy." Barbara said, her tone comforting. She had opted not to sound skeevy, worried it might put him back on the defensive. "We live this life, and it's always about hiding who we are. Superman can't be super when he's not in his cape. Batman has kind of a life outside the cowl."

Deke just walked towards her, and grabbed her into a hug. She tried to keep her hands as behaved as she'd asked him to keep his, but it left her unsure of where to put them to hug him back. She finally settled on his lower back and kept them there. She could hear his heart thundering in his chest, and she knew bringing him out of his comfort zone wasn't easy, but she was surprised at how it sounded.

Finally, Deke leaned his face down and kissed her. "One day I'm going to wake up and not hate myself, and you'll be the one to blame."

"I want to be there when you do." She said, and kissed him back.


	12. Chapter 12

March 14th  
Gotham City  
1155 EST

Barbara was sitting on the couch texting when Deke exited the shower. Truth be told, it was surprisingly hot outside, and he'd absolutely soaked himself in sweat just walking two blocks away for breakfast. He'd learned from her mistake though, and had taken his clothes in with him. For her, he'd decided to be brave, and had gone with a plain white tee shirt that he'd only bought as an undershirt, and paired it with jeans. He really would have worn a pair of shorts, but he only had boots and didn't want his Appalachian showing.

He grabbed these boots as he headed towards the living space, walking around the far side of the sofa to give Barbara some privacy. She seemed to be finished though, because she sat her phone down and tossed something towards him.

The object stopped in midair, as his hands were too busy to catch what appeared to be car keys. "You wanna go somewhere?" He asked, bringing the keys to rest on the arm of the chair while he kept lacing his boots.

"I do," she answered honestly. "I don't want to be cooped up in this apartment all week. We're going to Metropolis."

This was a surprise. Gotham and Metropolis were sister cities, less than 60 miles apart in a straight line, but the only way to get there that fast was by ferry across Delaware bay. "What's in Metropolis?" He asked, hoping she wasn't just going to say Superman.

"I have a friend. She's a magician, and she's doing a show there this evening. You'll love it." Barbara said. "And since I'm not supposed to drive, you're going to have to. Provided you have a license, of course."

"I do. Is this our first date?" He asked as he finished tying his boots. "Do I need a different shirt or something?"

She pondered that. Bruce and Selina had started their, whatever it was, while he was trying to run her down after a robbery. Still, that was them. "The shirt is fine, but you might need a jacket. There's plenty of places in Metropolis to get one. Also, yes, this will be our first date."

Deke pondered that over, and decided a decent suit jacket was worth spending more of the money Nightwing had given him. He still had almost thirteen hundred left but he wasn't really keen on blowing through it. What was more important to him though, was her agreement that this was going to be their first date.

"So, uhm, you know this is actually my first date, right?" He said to her. "Like, for real, legitimately, my first date in my life."

"So, I was your first kiss too?" Barbara asked. When he nodded, it made her feel very special. She smiled at him, and got up from the couch. She walked over to him, and primly sat across his legs, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a peck on the nose. "It'll be a good night."

They left the apartment after Deke grabbed some of his money, and then went to the basement. He thumbed the unlock button on they keyring, and was excited to see the lights of a black soft top Camaro flicker. "Is this one of, y'know, _his_ cars?"

"Yep, don't wreck it." She said, and got in. He'd never driven one before, but he'd always wanted to. He climbed into the driver's seat, and was pleased to see a six speed stick and what was probably every bell and whistle a Chevy dealership could offer. The inside still smelled brand new, and that scent mixed with the leather of the seats was almost intoxicating.

Deke turned the engine over, backed out of the space, and pulled onto the Gotham streets. He wasn't some Fast and Furious badass, but he was competent behind the wheel. At their first red light, Barbara flicked a switch and dropped the top, taking advantage of the beautiful day. "Gotham rarely sees days like this." She told him as she kicked her shoes off inside the car and leaned her seat back. She also put her sunglasses on, and just enjoyed being hit by the sunshine.

"Then it's a good thing I don't know where I'm going, we can spend longer enjoying it." Deke said. He'd never been in this area of Gotham and wasn't sure how to get to a southbound road. He didn't mind though, she looked so damn pretty smiling like she was. He knew she lived in the shadows, but the sheer contentment she was projecting was hard to ignore.

"Just stay on this road. It turns into one of the main arteries downtown, so keep in the middle lane and you're good. We should dodge the worst of the traffic without a problem." She told him, and watched him out of the corner of her eye. He had a light hand on the stick, which seemed different than other boys she's been out with. It may have been because this wasn't his car, but a lot of guys seemed to want to slam the shifter around, probably because they thought it made them look cool. Deke didn't, he was content to be a part of the machine, working with it instead of against it. The analytical part of her mind, though its voice was quieter today, told her it was probably due to his powers.

At their next red light, Deke switched the radio on, and immediately made a face. Barbara suspected Dick was the last person to drive the car, because of the house techno that immediately started playing. "Don't like techno?" She asked, curious to learn more about him.

"It's ok, I just wasn't expecting it." He said, and fiddled with the MyLink screen for a moment. He had to quit to drive though, so Barbara took over the duties, finally settling on The Spectrum. It seemed to do the trick, because within a couple of minutes, they were singing along together as they drove.

The trip itself was about an hour, most of which was spent dealing with Gotham's lunchtime traffic. Deke would occasionally reach over and brush her hand with his fingertips, mostly to make sure she was still real. It was only interrupted once, by her phone going off. She muted the radio and answered it with a slight frown.

"Hello?" She answered pleasantly enough. There was a pause, and her face revealed nothing. "Yes, I took the car." She said.

Deke strained his ears to hear, but with the top down it was nearly impossible. He was worried she was going to be in some kind of trouble, and wasn't particularly keen on the idea. "No, I'm not driving." Barbara said in an almost irritated tone. She placed her free hand on his and squeezed it lightly. "Deke, the boy you met in the hosp…" She frowned at being cut off and let the caller speak their peace.

The irritation within her went from internal to external as the emotion began pulsing off of her. Barbara's eyes turned stormy, which had the double effect on Deke of him being glad they weren't aimed at him, and also making her look exceptionally sexy. He wisely kept that to himself.

"I thought I saw her!" Barbara snapped. "You don't need to have Artemis trailing me! She quit the life!" Her squeeze on his hand grew tighter at that, and it was plain that she'd gone from irritated to furious. "What Selina and I discussed is none of your business!" She all but yelled.

Deke began to grow concerned, but had nothing to say or do for her, so he just let her squeeze his hand. It was beginning to hurt, but he ignored it. If she was able to break one of his bones, he'd have more things to worry about anyways. "We're going to Metropolis to see Zatanna's show. I suppose you'll have Superman keeping an eye on me there?"

In an instant, her fury and her grip subsided by a good measure. "Oh, ok, thank you." She said, sounding a bit chastised. "Yes, we'll be safe."

The typical teenage boy in Deke's thoughts immediately wondered if she meant safe sex, but he shut that line of thought down quickly. "Okay, bye." She said, and tapped the end call on her phone screen. She looked at her hand, and removed it from Deke's, seeing the white outline of her fingers. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"It's okay. Everything alright?" Deke asked as he pulled into the line of cars at the ferry station. She was a mix of emotion at the moment, a bit embarrassed but mostly angry.

"If it were Nightwing in my place, he probably would have thrown a box of Trojans at him and gave him a clap on the back." Barbara said with a scowl. "Not tasked three satellites and a dozen people to watch his every move." She looked at him then, gauging his reaction. He just kept a soft smile on his face, obviously not wanting to interrupt.

"And then he has the nerve to tell me he trusts me, and to be careful because Superman's destroying landmines in Myanmar." She blew out of the corner of her mouth, causing a bit of her hair to flutter. Deke brushed it out of the way and kissed her on the forehead.

"He trained you, Nightwing, and Robin?" Deke asked. She nodded, not quite ready to tell him Batman had trained another Robin as well.

"When I was growing up, it was mostly me and mom. Even before Dad died, he was away a lot, and Mom only had sisters growing up, so she really didn't know how to handle a boy. I was pretty atypical, but I was still a boy. I wound up getting the sex talk from the husband of the doctor she worked for." He told her.

"So, you're saying Batman can't handle mentoring a girl?" Barbara asked. She'd known this for a while now, she was mostly curious how Deke would respond.

"I'm saying I think he doesn't know how to balance caring and teaching. I dunno who that Selina woman was you were talking about, but I get the feeling he felt like she was moving in on what he felt was his responsibility." Deke said with a shrug. "Doesn't make it right, but the road to hell and all."

So, he was agreeing with her thoughts, and that's probably what pissed her off the worst. He'd ended the call telling her flat out that she was a smart girl and he trusted her, the same thing her dad would have said. Being told he trusted her, but still keeping people watching her. She knew he cared. He'd never say it, but he loved his family. They were all he really had.

"I wish he'd just ask me first." She grumbled and sat there, arms crossed over her chest. "I'm not a little girl anymore."

"He doesn't see it. When mom started getting really bad off, she told me she still called me her little boy because it still made her feel useful, but since she was so sick, she had to start calling me a man." Deke said, looking off at the line of cars still ahead of them.

Barbara had to agree with it. Her dad had blown up when she first put on the costume, had even complained about how if her mother were still around, it wouldn't have happened and Barbara could have been happier and all manner of other things he was just saying out of emotion. It had taken a while, but he'd come around. Of course, he was a police commissioner, not a costumed vigilante.

The car edged forward as the line began moving onto the ferry. Barbara put the top back up and they sat there just listening to music for a little while. Finally, Deke broke the protocol and put his hand on hers, giving another light squeeze. She smiled at him, and kissed him.


	13. Chapter 13

March 14th  
Metropolis  
1400 EST

Metropolis was a stark contrast to Gotham. While both cities had a certain old but timeless look, Metropolis was much brighter. People seemed happier here, walking down the sidewalk smiling, carrying on their business without a care in the world, and really, why shouldn't they? This was Superman's city. Even when terrible things happened, they had the utmost faith that he'd take care of it.

Deke and Barbara had the top back down as they wove through downtown Metropolis. Her mood still wasn't sunny, but she'd been smiling and carrying on with him, still singing along with the radio. He figured she just needed some more time to process, so he didn't bring up her argument with Batman.

"Hungry?" Deke asked her. He'd been looking for a place to park for the last little bit. Metropolis seemed engineered for foot traffic and he really wanted to stretch his legs a bit.

"Starving," Barbara said, turning to look at him with a hungry gaze that sent a buzz up his spine. "Do you like Cuban food?"

It was his turn, finally, after her schooling him on Indian food. "Ay mamacita, me gusta comida Cubana."

Barbara looked at him, mouth agape in surprise. "You speak Spanish?" She asked. It hadn't occurred to her to ask much about his skills, she'd been so content with his affection she hadn't stopped to think what else he could do. Also, she found it hot, but she wasn't prepared to act on that just yet.

"Doctor Maria Delgado was my mom's boss. She and her husband Hector were Cuban immigrants, and after we lost dad, they kind of became our new family. I went into high school speaking better Spanish than the teacher. Otra mami actually taught me a lot of stuff, she's how I figured out I could heal people." Deke explained. "That's why I was so big on you taking your meds. Your body can't heal as well under stress. I wasn't trying to get you stoned so I could have my way with you." He added with a half grin.

"It wouldn't have worked." Barbara said matter of factly. She didn't add that it wouldn't have worked because he could have all on his own without trying. She was just really pleased he respected her desire for boundaries and never felt the need to try and test it.

"No, it wouldn't have." He agreed and laughed. "Besides, you kissed me first, remember?"

"I couldn't forget if I tried." She said, and leaned in to kiss him at the red light. It was deeper than their usual, and she licked at his lips delicately, inviting him to return the favor, which he happily did. They locked together until a car behind them honked, forcing Deke to return attention to the road.

"That was, well, awesome." Deke commented as he finally found a parking garage with a vacancy sign. "What'd I do right?" He was flustered for sure, but used the operation of a vehicle to cover it.

Barbara smiled and wiped her lipstick off his lips. "Because I wanted to. Do I need a reason?" She asked, with the look of someone expecting an explanation.

"Well no, I just wanted to know so I could do whatever it was again!" Deke told her as he took the parking ticket and began the slow spiral of searching for the vacant parking place. Odds are good, he was going to get the very last one, in the most inconvenient spot ever conceived. "But seriously, what'd I do?" He finally asked. "What'd I do that made you decide you wanted to keep me around?"

"You're thoughtful without being pandering, respectful without being patronizing, and you're not an arrogant waste of space." She answered after a moment of thought. "You're kind without expectation, that's a big plus."

"Am I pretty?" Deke asked, giving an over-acted bashful look at her. She replied by showing him the tip of her tongue.

"Maybe less so at the moment." Barbara added, poking him lightly in the chest as he finally found the one available parking place, sitting opposite the stairwell, on the roof of the garage. He put the roof back up on the Camaro and shut the engine off.

They exited the parking garage, and Barbara led him into downtown Metropolis. Deke was acting as he had his first day in Gotham, just wanting to see it all. It was clear Barbara had a goal in mind though, as she took his hand and began more directly guiding him. Deke just laced his fingers with hers and went. He didn't care if they did anything else, just wandering around this beautiful city with this beautiful girl was enough for him. Everything else was just icing.

Finally, she led him to an outdoor mall that sat in a hollow created by some of the skyscrapers. The place was huge, with a giant fountain in the middle, and its own little alleyways and thoroughfares. To Deke, it was almost overwhelming, looking like somebody turned a four story mall inside out. He couldn't deny how cool it was though.

Barbara made a beeline to a place called Alonzo's. Even the window looked expensive, full of mannequins with very stylish suits. Something, Deke lamented, he knew very little about, besides Armani was supposed to be top of the line and his last suit came from JC Penney's, cost more than he wanted to spend, and he'd only worn it to his mother's funeral.

"Barbara, I didn't bring much money." He whispered to her as they walked in. Even the smell of the place was expensive, fabrics and leather and everything he didn't understand. They sold cufflinks. He'd never even seen cufflinks not on television. It was all kind of overwhelming.

"It's okay," She said in a reassuring tone. "I know something you don't." It was apparently the case though. What she knew was, the original Alonzo didn't get into this business to get rich, and it was his son, Alonzo junior who'd decided to start carrying designer apparel. Knowing this, she took Deke to the back of the store and showed him some sample jackets on mannequins, with price tags that didn't induce a heart attack.

"The original owner made his own line," She said. "He wanted to make his business in a broad market, so he did his own work. When he handed ownership of the business to his son, he made him promise to keep the original line. One of the best kept secrets in Gotham, Metropolis, and Central City."

"How'd you know that?" Deke asked as he looked at the options before him. To tell the truth, they all looked too small.

"I wrote a paper on them for business and finance class." She said very matter of factly. "Plus it's where most guys in Gotham with more sense than money go to buy their suits." As she told him, she began holding coats up against him, trying to imagine him wearing it.

"If you like one, say something, I'm not the one wearing it." Barbara said as Deke stood there feeling embarrassed again.

"I don't want to make you look bad." He said, feeling that old familiar shyness crawling back up his spine. When she didn't respond immediately, he looked at her face, and by the look of it, she wasn't happy.

"Don't you dare say that." Barbara said to him, not angry, just disappointed. "Don't you ever say that. I believe in you, so you better believe in you too dammit. I don't like one sided relationships."

The gravity of her tone struck him harder than if she'd kicked him in the face, leaving him unable to respond. Finally, he mumbled an okay and went back to looking at suit coats. To emphasize her point, she took his hand again and squeezed it lightly.

This silence was broken after a few moments by a store employee, a young man with a hipster haircut. He wasn't much older than Deke or Barbara, dressed impeccably, as he should be for a place like this. "Are you finding everything okay today?"

"Not really," Deke started, and pointed at the mannequins. "These are all too small." He lamented in his drawl.

The employee simply took the measuring tape hanging around his neck like a stethoscope and brandished it like a pro. "Just displays, we'll get you taken care of."


	14. Chapter 14

March 14th  
Metropolis  
1505 EST

Deke and Barbara walked out of Alonzo's, he now the proud owner of a khaki linen suit coat. He'd been promised that it would be exceptionally comfortable even in the heat, and so far, Deke wasn't disappointed. Apparently, pushed sleeves was also acceptable, and he'd taken advantage of it.

"I feel like we should be having a car chase against the drug cartel in Miami." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. The cashier had thrown them in since it was his first time in Metropolis, and Deke hadn't argued. "You're thinking about that now, aren't you?"

Barbara nodded with a happy smile. "Uh huh." She said, and laced her fingers into his again.

"Me too. Is it awesome in your head?" He asked as they strolled along in the outdoor mall.

"Very. You?" She answered as they walked towards the fountain.

"We are so cool." Deke said, and came to a stop at the fountain. He fished into his pocket and pulled out a quarter. He closed his eyes for a minute, standing still, before flipping the coin in.

"What'd you wish for?" Barbara asked, looking up at him with her beautiful blues.

"I'll tell you when it comes true." Deke said cryptically. "Now, about this Cuban food?"

"Oh, it's in here actually," Barbara said, pointing to a place on the second story with a placard declaring the place 'Caribe' "But that wish you made?" It was clear she wasn't letting it go any time soon.

"I can't tell you, it won't come true." He said, dodging the question.

"Now you're being stubborn," Barbara accused. She was right, he was being stubborn.

They walked up the stairs, arguing playfully. They were late for lunch and early for dinner, which made it an easy time to get a table. Once seated, and their drinks were ordered, Deke began looking over the menu. Barbara seemed to know exactly what she wanted as she hadn't bothered even glancing at the menu. Instead, she seemed to be interested in the décor of the place, whitewashed adobe style walls, with splashed of slightly muted colors.

"So, what looks good?" She asked as Deke went through the offerings.

"Plenty. Otra mami taught me how to cook most of this though." He said, looking up at her. "You know what you want already?"

"Picadillo Habana," Barbara said. "Did you just watch and learn from your otra mami?" She asked, hoping that name wasn't something that only he got to use or something.

"No, she set out on a mission to teach me. She said 'Listen mijo. Women aren't raised like I was, you can't just expect your woman to cook for you anymore, so you need to know how to feed yourself.'" Deke said, even using the accent, which seemed almost funny coming from him. "I think a big part of that was because her husband was in the kitchen too, because she was looking dead at him. I didn't care, I was a big kid because I loved food so it was exciting."

"So, you speak Spanish, you say you can cook, what else can you do?" Barbara asked, not even trying to hide that she was fishing for more details about him.

"I know I can cook. I'll make dinner tomorrow night and prove it. As for the rest, I'd really like to surprise you. I kinda hate talking about myself, and it keeps some mystery, right?"

Really, she couldn't argue with the idea of mystery. Her goal had been to get him to properly evaluate himself, maybe help him get past the horrible image he had of himself, but maybe she was pushing too hard too soon. Besides, she knew how delighted she got when she could surprise someone she cared about with something fun.

"Ok," She said sweetly. "What are you getting, do you know yet?"

"Mariscada Al Ajillo, but it's garlicky." Deke warned, hoping that wasn't going to interfere with locking lips with her again. Even the thought drew his eyes to her mouth, with the upturned corners and the red lipstick. He had to take a sip of his drink to break the spell she was casting on him. All she had to do was look at him and ask, and he'd do anything for her. It was a kindness that either she didn't realize it, or didn't want to push it.

"They give you mints for a reason you know." Barbara told him, and poked him softly. Something about the way he reacted when she touched him made her happy. He'd told her this would be his first proper date, and she also knew by the way he touched her when they kissed that he was still in a state of emotional shock by her desire to be with him. The entirety of it all really did make her feel special.

She'd been on dates before, made out with a boy or two, and brushed some too curious hands away, and they all made the same excuse that she was so amazing or beautiful or whatever else they thought would magically make her underwear fly off. Deke didn't say any of that, but his hands, the touch of his lips, and the very simple kindnesses he'd shown her told her that he had a similar opinion, and that really did make Barbara's feelings soar.

Out of nowhere, Deke reached across the table and took both of her hands, just holding them. When she looked at his face, he seemed almost embarrassed. To show it was welcomed, she squeezed back. He looked like he was about to say something, but their server arrived to take their orders, showing the worst timing possible.

They placed their orders and when the server walked away, Barbara spoke up. "Were you about to say something?" She asked, mimicking his earlier action by taking his hands.

"Yeah," Deke said, and for the barest moment, his grip went slightly slack and expression fled his face. Barbara was about to say something but he returned to normal. "Sorry, making sure nobody else was near enough to hear."

"Okay, well, what'd you want to say then?" She smiled at him again, and gave his hands another light squeeze.

"Ok, so maybe I'm making decisions based off being infatuated, but I don't see myself regretting this." Deke said, and Barbara was kind of worried he was going to tell her loved her or something. She wasn't opposed to the idea as an eventuality, but it would be awfully fast to say so right now. What he said next surprised her more though.

"I was eleven. This guy had won the lottery. It was some crazy jackpot, like half a billion after taxes. He was like a lot of people back home though and didn't have enough education to back up his own natural smarts. So, he thought to himself, since diamonds come from coal, and we lived in coal fields, he was going to buy land and mine diamonds." Deke began.

"That's not how that works at all." Barbara said, and Deke nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but he was suddenly the richest guy for miles, and he was offering some ridiculous money for people's properties. He may not have had the right idea about mining, but he wasn't about to cheat people. So, he buys up all this land over four years, right? He hires surveyors who point him to the old coal deposits, and then he gets all this mining equipment brought in."

Deke paused to take a sip of his drink, and looked like he was mustering courage. "So, there we are, me and Mom living at the bottom of a hill he's bought out. This mining equipment is going full bore, really expensive stuff too. I think they were like five million a pop and there were ten running at any given time. This one Saturday, me and Mom are sitting at home, planning on heading down the road to get ice cream, and boom, one of the drills blows up. It chain reacts because he'd put them too close together, and the whole top of the hill goes sky high."

Barbara's expression was one of surprise. She thought that would have made some kind of news, but she'd heard nothing about it. "What happened next?" She asked, curious now about how it had escaped media attention.

"Well, we were far enough down the hill that it was just some shrapnel that hit us. Mom took a couple small pieces, I took a few too. We didn't bother sticking around after that. We loaded up in the car and she takes us to the hospital. None of it required real surgery. They just doped me on some laughing gas to pull the pieces out of me, and mom didn't even need that. A few stiches later and we were good to go."

Deke looked toward the kitchen and paused for a moment. When Barbara followed his gaze, she saw their food being brought, so she waited. They took a few bites, and he seemed pleased with his dish, and after the taste test, he continued.

"So we don't think anything of our health afterwards. This guy's lawyer shows up, and he offers us some money to fix the house and a little extra, probably so we didn't take him to court. Mom's not interested in going in front of a judge about it, so she takes it."

Barbara, familiar with some of the worst the legal profession can offer, knew exactly where things were headed. "She signed future liability away, didn't she?"

Deke nodded. "Yep, and I didn't know any better to tell her. Anyways, I start getting headaches, really bad ones. Doctor Delgado risked getting in trouble and wrote me a scrip of oxycodone they were so awful, and when that stuff didn't even help, we had to see a neurologist. I got more MRI's of my head than an NFL player, and they were baffled. Nothing seemed wrong, except I couldn't bear to be in the light, and even my heartbeat was too loud."

"So, I missed so much school my mom had to basically drop me out. I spent most of a year in my bedroom, in the dark, with an air conditioner running, and stoned off my mind on painkillers. And all this time, mom's getting sick and I never noticed." Deke's expression clouded at this. Barbara wanted to do something, but she wasn't sure what to do.

"So, the headaches started letting up finally. I was able to get up, move around, and give myself an honest, proper shower. I'd eaten so little that I'd lost all that fat, but I'd lost muscle too. Mom started taking me to the gym in the hospital so I could rehab, and she was so happy that I was up and around that she started working out too."

Deke took another bite of his food, and gave Barbara and inquisitive look. He'd been talking so much he hadn't given her space to get a word in, but she seemed content to listen, so he carried on. "One day, she's benching, and it was a light set, but the weight got away from her and she almost dropped it on herself. I was across the room when I caught the bar. I just, I wanted to keep it from hitting her, and there it was floating in midair. We were the only ones in the gym at the time, thank God. Mom got away and I managed to re-rack the weight."

"So, long story short, Mom's doc discovered the cancer when she got herself checked out. She asked around a bit, and it turned out some of the parts of the mining equipment were radioactive, and that lawyer got the shards and buried the story. I got superpowers, and my mother got terminal breast cancer. If that ain't bullshit, I don't know what is." Deke said, setting his fork down on his plate. "Anyway, that's pretty much me. I got my GED and moved out to Gotham, trying to get away from it all."

"I don't know what to say." Barbara said honestly. He'd opened himself up, which meant he was comfortable enough with her to do so. She was determined not to ruin that trust. "Thank you for trusting me with this."

"Say you still like me, that you still want me around?" He asked her as he finished his drink.

"Of course," She said, and brushed an errant strand of hair out of his face. "Wanna try mine?" She asked, suddenly changing the subject on him by offering a bite of her food.

"Trade you." He said, and while she was no psychic, he certainly seemed relieved.


	15. Chapter 15

March 14th  
Metropolis  
1919 EST

After lunch, they'd wandered downtown Metropolis for a while. Barbara had taken it upon herself to show him some sights, including the giant statue of Superman that the city had built. They visited the park, where they snuck off to steal a few kisses from one another, and had visited the arts district to watch street performers.

At one point, Barbara's phone had chimed, and she'd carried on a quick text conversation with whoever had messaged her. Rather abruptly, she grabbed Deke and snapped a selfie with him, which of course meant he had the goofiest face imaginable in the picture. He managed to persuade her to take another, which she fired off the moment it had been taken. "For the doorman." Was all she explained.

When they arrived at the theater, Deke was surprised to see posters of Zatanna all over the marquee. She looked familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite place it, until he imagined her without the top hat. "She was at the hospital to visit you. She's _League_!" Deke said in an excited whisper. He'd remembered watching her induction ceremony on a tv in a store window.

Barbara smiled at him and nodded. "One of my very best friends. Wanna meet her?"

"Well yeah, that'd be awesome. How's she still doing shows if she League though?" Deke asked, genuinely curious. "Does she not have a private life?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised at her private life. Most people pay attention to the costume, so they rarely see the woman wearing it. She does shows now as charity events. This one's benefitting muscular dystrophy research I think." Barbara explained quietly. While most of the crowd was already milling in the lobby, there was no reason to be irresponsible with her friend's life.

At the ticket window, Barbara stepped away from Deke for a moment, and spoke quietly to the booth employee, dressed nattily in their vintage box office apparel. After a couple of seconds, she waved Deke over and they got their tickets as well as a pair of backstage pass lanyards.

When they entered the theater proper, Deke took Barbara's hand and held firmly. When she looked at him, the distress on his face was visible. "Are you ok?" She asked, concerned by his sudden shift in attitude.

"Too many people," He said, his face looking like he was dealing with a migraine. "It's hard to tune them all out when they're this close."

She could only guess at this, since M'gann never seemed to have this problem. Still, she led him through the crowd, politely maneuvering through press and the elite to get away from the mass of people. Deke was moving with her all but blind, still fighting to shut everyone out of his psychic senses. It was the excitement that did him in, everyone was thinking so loudly.

Finally, they cleared the crowd and got to the VIP door. The psychic pressure was bleeding away quickly, and Deke released his grip on Barbara's hand. "Sorry you had to see that." He said, echoing her statement from earlier in the day. "I avoid crowds. I should be getting used to them, not running away."

They both flashed their badges and walked down the hall. "I'm sure even Superman has bad days," Barbara said in a sweet tone. "Don't be ashamed of it."

Finally, they got to the dressing rooms. A pair of security guards flanked a door with Zatanna's name on it. When they were shown badges, one of them knocked. After a quiet answer, they opened the door for the couple, and Deke and Barbara entered.

Inside, Zatanna was still in street clothes, busying herself with makeup, alone in front of a row of vanities. When the two walked in, she stood up and rushed them, hugging Barbara. "Thank you for coming!" She said sweetly. "You look really good."

Barbara blushed a bit and returned the hug. "Thank you. You're looking good as always." She said, just as sweet. Deke could feel the sincerity and friendship between the two women and found it rather pleasant to experience.

Zatanna gestured towards the small sofa, white suede against black walls and carpet. When Deke and Barbara both sat down, she turned her chair around to talk to them. "So you're the mystery boy from the hospital." This was a statement, not a question, but she seemed pretty nice about it.

"Yep, I am." Deke said, and Barbara could see him retreating back into his walled off shy mode. To cut him off, she squeezed his hand and poked him in the shoulder lightly. "Pleased to meet you." He added, standing up and offering his hand.

"You finally found a boyfriend with manners Babs." Zatanna said, taking his hand. Instead of shaking, he clasped her hand with his left and gave a friendly nod. Of course, her statement also made Deke freeze a moment. He wasn't sure how Barbara was going to react to that.

"I thought I'd try something new, seems to be working out." Barbara said, taking Deke's hand again when he sat back down. Deke realized he was going to have to file away that moment to bring up later. "You need a hand with anything?"

"No, I got it." Zatanna said as she applied a few finishing touches to her stage face. Standing up, she raised her hands and spoke, her voice echoing itself. "Wohs eht rof emit!" She said, and smoke curled around her. When it dissipated, she stood in the attire that pulled double duty for stage and crimefighting.

"Woah," Deke said, his eyes wide like he'd been eating psychedelics. "That was awesome!" he added with a wide, goofy grin.

"You'll love the rest of the show then." Zatanna said, and grabbed her top hat. "You've got box seats waiting on you by the way."

Barbara looked at Deke and they both stood. The two girls exchanged pleasantries for a moment, and Deke hugged the magical girl. "It was nice to meet you." He said again before walking out.

Upstairs, the private box was something else; big, cushy chairs, a small table between them, an amazing view of the show, and most of all, privacy. Once they'd sat down, and the lights dimmed, Deke took Barbara's hand. He couldn't help it, her fingers just seemed to fit so perfectly in his. There was a solid bit of infatuation helping him to this conclusion, but it also just felt right. Barbara smiled at him, leaned over to steal a kiss, and then got an amazed look as the music fired up and the lights began sweeping.

Zatanna appeared in a puff of smoke, and dove straight into the act, doves flying from her hat, and her show's accessories appearing out of nowhere. From there, it went into more complex illusions, really fun stuff like quick changing, levitating, and teleporting people between two boxes. She also did a lot of sleight of hand stuff, which may have served as filler between acts, but she seemed to enjoy herself more with the interlocking rings than she did sawing herself in half.

"For my last trick, I'll need someone from the audience!" Zatanna finally called out. "Someone very special. I need the man who chose to match the donations here tonight, bringing our final total up to three million dollars! Mr. Bruce Wayne, where are you?"

At that, there was a huge ripple of applause from the audience. In their private box, Deke and Barbara were just as swept up, whooping and cheering, and it didn't stop there. On the stage, Zatanna incanted another spell, her voice echoing and big. "Em ot rotcafeneb ruo gnirb!"

In another helix swirl of smoke, a man in a nice tuxedo appeared quite suddenly, slightly hunched over and rubbing his hands together like he'd just finished washing up in the restroom. "I'm glad I decided to introduce him first!" Zatanna said, bringing a huge laugh from the crowd.

Bruce took it in stride, and made with the surprised behavior as Zatanna continued. "My last trick of the night, turning Mr. Wayne's check into a whole lot of zeroes for the Muscular Dystrophy association!"

As they went through the motions of a staged handoff, with Bruce making a very overblown act of taking out his checkbook and filling one out, a murmur began raising through the crowd, snowballing the emotional tone of the crowd from elated to worried. Deke frowned, got up, and stared directly at a man at the door of the theater. He hated poking at people's thoughts, but something was upsetting people. He reached out and joined thoughts with the man, and caught glimpses of some very strange things. Deke also caught terror in the man. He was scared to death of the things he'd seen.

"Babs, is there a reason the streets may be filled with life sized green army men toys?" Deke asked, breaking contact with the man's thoughts.

Immediately, Barbara's attitude shifted. Apparently, this was her game face, and Deke was going to have to have some serious self-exploration as to why he found it arousing. "Toyman," She said, and began pulling the hem of her dress up.

This was a surprising turn of events. Was this Toyman in the adult toy line of business? Deke banished that thought immediately, as Barbara had reached under her dress, made a deft movement with her hand, and let a gold belt drop.

"Have you been wearing that all day?" Deke asked, surprised.

"It's my emergency belt, I wear it almost everywhere." Barbara replied professionally as she clasped it on over her dress. "I've got work to do. Can you keep the people here safe?"

"Absolutely." Deke replied, his own face settling into a calm focus.


	16. Chapter 16

March 14th  
Metropolis  
2130 EST

After Barbara had left the private box, Deke considered his next move. If these toy army men were marching down the streets of Metropolis with the aim of theft, they'd probably consider a magical charity gala a juicy target. He considered heading towards the costume storage he'd passed backstage, but he remembered he was one of three hundred some million people that weren't on the cover of magazines. Just another nobody who had no identity to protect, which was perfectly fine.

Zatanna had assured the crowd of their safety and left the stage. Security guards escorted Bruce Wayne away, and most of the crowd was just huddled in their seats, hoping it would blow over. It was game time. Deke first shifted his brain chemistry and stimulated his adrenal gland. Between the two, his reaction times would be much, much faster. Then, he fortified himself with telekinetic force, leaving himself bullet and pressure proof.

Deke took his new suit coat off and set it on his seat, and lifted himself in the air. At slow speeds he could maneuver himself, which was a small blessing as he aimed himself towards the doors to the lobby. A few people below muttered as he passed, but the goal was making sure they lived long enough to talk about this tomorrow.

At the doors, Deke opted not to blow them out dramatically, as they were a barrier. Instead, he simply stepped out, lifted himself back out, and went out the door.

Yep, there was an army of these guys, looking just like the toys he played with as a kid. "Is this guy for real?" He said to himself. He knew there were some messed up villains out there, but damn. He didn't have time to consider it though. Some of the column stopped, turned, and opened fire.

Deke threw his arm up defensively, forgetting for a moment he'd shielded himself. Annoyed at the act, he threw his arm wide, sending several of them flying into the building across the street. When they made impact, they fell apart, spitting electricity and making noises one might associate with dying batteries.

Up the street at the head of the column, he could hear Zatanna working magic, and there were occasional explosions at the end of the group, something he could attribute to his beautiful date. The better news of the moment though, was that these things were machines.

Whoever this Toyman was, if he wanted to play, Deke would play. The guy seemed like just another bully, another asshole who wanted to push people around however he could. That wasn't going to happen. Deke switched his approach and began throwing out energy.

Instead of percussive force, he used thin sheets. Usually he'd do this for utility cutting, but it was just a matter of ramping up the scale. The air filled with sharp screaming sounds as he literally cut the air, shredding the robotic toy army men with every motion of his arm. This was perhaps a bit over-dramatic, but he didn't care.

Neither, apparently, did the Toyman, as more and more of these soldiers poured onto the streets. They were armed like World War two grunts, mostly with rifles. When their fire seemed not to affect their telekinetic opponent, they changed tactics, splitting into squads and spreading their threat out, often towards civilians trying to get away from the mess.

More of the bat shaped shuriken flew through the air, and more magic could be heard, the tactics changing to suit the change in battle. "Eof ot dneirf egnahc!" was something Deke clearly heard, and a full squad of these things immediately started shooting the rest. Yeah, they were cut down quickly, but they took enough with them before they went.

"There's a controlling entity somewhere!" Deke heard behind him as he yanked a van full of people up and out of the way of the army, setting the vehicle on the roof of a building. When he looked, he saw Batgirl (he had to remember to call her that) toss a few of her batarangs out. "Can you mind link us? it's Zatanna, Batman, and me."

Where the hell did Batman come from? Deke wondered. "I don't know, I've never tried." He pondered where she'd gotten her costume from, and decided that was yet another thing he'd ask about after this.

"Don't bother then, might do more harm than good. We've got backup coming in soon, mind your area attacks." Batgirl said, and fired off another line, tossing more explosive devices into the mass of robotic toys.

Some of the soldiers shifted their aim, firing ineffectively into the night sky, but they lost her quickly as she faded into the darkness. This bought Deke a moment to try something. He created a pinpoint sphere of force, and then generated another bubble out of it. These were perfectly sealed, and the effort to expand the outer one to create a vacuum was harder than he expected it to be.

One of the soldiers, armed with a green scoped Springfield rifle drew aim on the person in front of the theater. His biometrics seemed stressed, making him a viable target. The crude acquisition system sought out a lock on the male currently standing there, holding one hand out and struggling.

The thing fired, and the round flew through the air at 2,800 feet per second, aimed directly at its target's head. The round stopped short just barely, all of its energy bled off before making contact. It did serve to distract the target though, which caused its stress to end.

In the middle of the street, a thunderclap happened as air rushed to fill the void Deke had created. The pressure sucked several of these toy soldiers in, collapsing them into an imploded mess.

"Cool." Deke muttered and telekinetically batted at a green bazooka fired rocket. It exploded in front of the barrel of the thing, taking out a few more of the toy soldiers. He'd have to stop that though, as both Batman and Batgirl were busy fighting the things hand to hand, having seemingly run out of weaponry to throw at them.

He went back to cutting them down, dialing his range down considerably. It slowed his work down, but the backup Batgirl had mentioned arrived a minute or two later.

The guy called Nightwing flew into the fray on a zip line, throwing a pair of belts he had on his shoulder to Batgirl and Batman. He was joined by Robin, who bought the others some time to re-arm. Another guy in a black t-shirt seemed to fall out of the sky and began bashing these toy soldiers, backed up by a blonde girl who lassoed one and used it as a wrecking ball, smashing it into the toys until it was too beaten to be of use.

Deke also felt a bizarre ripple throughout the air, and could vaguely sense some kind of connection between all of them, like some kind of psychic web. Since the fresh group of heroes had bought him a moment to breathe, he reached out with his own thoughts, forming them into a line to connect with the rest.

[…one more helping out, link him too.] He heard in his thoughts, the voice of Batgirl.

[He did it himself.] Another voice, this one high pitched and very kind sounding.

[Good, get out of the way then!] The third voice sounded like a kid, but the urgency was enough to cause Deke to push himself into the air, vacating space that a green rhinoceros chose to move through on its way to the melee.

The battle continued on for several more minutes, the team using their link to concert themselves into a wicked efficiency. Deke kept quiet, feeling bad that he'd poked his nose into it, though he'd received a couple of commands which had helped quicken their work.

Finally, a large power armor looking green solider walked onto the street, this one bearing five stars on the shoulders, and a pair of gatling guns for hands. Deke threw up a wide field of telekinetic force as the thing opened fire, spraying ammo indiscriminately.

[Superboy, Wondergirl, open the can.] Came across the link, and the two big hitters went to work. The bullets didn't seem to faze the boy, and the girl just wove through the wall of ammo, throwing her arms up defensively. [Miss Martian, New guy, put it on its back.]

Not needing asked twice, Deke telekinetically grasped the thing's legs from behind and yanked. His effort was joined by a shove from the top. It never had a chance. Superboy and Wondergirl ripped the weapons and armor off the thing in no time, and pulled a very unhappy looking guy with long hair and acne out of the control center.

"I'd like to discuss the terms of my surrender now?" He said, putting his hands in the air.

With the control unit down, what few remaining toy soldiers simply shut down. Afterwards, the street was frighteningly silent, leaving Deke feeling almost hollow, though he had no idea why.

[Miss Martian. Now.] Deke heard over the link, the gruff voice recognizable as Batman.

That's when things went south. Immediately, the link dissolved, and Deke felt a tidal wave of pressure pushing against his mind. He tried pushing back, and failing that, moving through it, but it was just way too strong. It carried him into his own thoughts, where he saw his home in disjointed floating pieces.

"What's going on?" He asked, but saw nothing or no one. "Why is this happening?"

Finally, a form materialized. She was redheaded, freckled, and green. "I'm sorry, but I have to make sure you're not a threat." Miss Martian said, and the emotional undercurrent was one of genuine apologetic sorrow. "I was ordered to do this. Please forgive me."

Deke wasn't sure how to respond to her at first, but as he watched her sifting through memories that he held very personal, he began to get angry. All anyone had to do was ask. He was nobody. "You want to see what's in here?" He said angrily. "Fine, you're welcome to it!"

He pushed back, summoning every moment in his life and just shoving it at her. M'gann was immediately overwhelmed by every wedgie, every push, every punch and kick. Seven men in sailor uniforms shooting rifles in the air. Another man in uniform handing a little boy a flag. Hope being crushed, dreams being broken, trust being violated. A woman withering into skin and bones before her mind's eye. Ripping, searing pain. And then, stars in the blackness. Laughter, delicious smells, music, and… Barbara's lips, her fingertips, her scent, her heartbeat?

"Too much! Too much!" Miss Martian shouted in the real world, her lambent green eyes going wide. Superboy caught her, and immediately started pulling her away. A visible pressure wave was growing, pushing away from the guy who's head she was in, inch by inch.

"What are you doing?!" Batgirl yelled, rushing towards M'gann. She was stopped by Batman, who put a hand on her shoulder.

"She's acting under orders." He said flatly. "You, I trust. Him, I do not."

Finally, the pressure wave broke, cracking the street beneath Deke into a perfect bowl shaped depression a couple of feet around. He floated there for a moment before falling to the ground in a heap.


	17. Chapter 17

Deke woke up, his head throbbing and pounding like it hadn't since the accident. He was on his back, and there were extremely bright lights. He squinted hard, re-opening his eyes much more slowly so they could adjust. He felt very fuzzy headed and dizzy and he wasn't sure why until his eyes had adjusted to the lights enough to see.

He was in some kind of small, single bed infirmary, which was otherwise empty. He looked down, saw he was strapped down, still dressed though, and also noticed he had an IV in his arm. Glancing over, he could see a timed syringe drip hooked up to the line, and after taking a moment to try and clear his head, he could make out benzodiazepine on the syringe label.

Valium? That meant sedation. Who the hell was trying to keep him sedated, especially with valium? He'd taken enough of the stuff for his headaches that it was basically candy by this point. Did the Toyman have some backup contingency? Were they all stuck in rooms like this? That shit was not going to fly.

It was harder than it should have been, in the chemical fog he was in, but Deke managed to telekinetically block the IV line in his arm. After that, he focused in on himself, overclocking his metabolism to burn through the drugs in his system. This proved a bad idea as he immediately got nauseous and even dizzier. That meant he hadn't eaten in a while, but food was going to have to wait.

As he refocused himself, he tried to remember what had happened. His last memory was watching Superboy and Wondergirl rip the power armor apart to get to the operator inside. He knew there was more, but it just wasn't coming to him. He'd have to puzzle it out later though, he had work to do.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he felt his mind and body sharped back up, the drugs purging from his system at a rate fast enough to make his liver scream. He then turned his attention to the restraints, generating more blades of telekinetic force to cut through them. He had to vary his approach as the material was both freakishly dense as well as elastic, making even a molecule thick edge slow work.

Finally freed, Deke sat up, and another wave of dizziness and shakiness hit him. He hoped there was a kitchen somewhere on the way to whoever's ass he was planning on kicking. He rode it out, took several deep breaths, and got onto his feet.

Again, he could of just dramatically blown the door out of his way, but he chose to cut into it, first visualizing where he wanted the energy to be, and then creating it, cause the telekinetic force to interpose and separate the material from the door in wedges. He was pleased at this quieter approach, as he could catch the metal and set it down silently.

This process took a few more minutes, especially as his blood sugar was probably in the basement by this point. Finally though, he'd weakened the door enough to just barely push and cause it to collapse.

The effort though, was not worth it. Standing right outside the door was the green skinned redhead, looking exceptionally haggard. "I told you he was awake." She said to whoever was off to her right.

March 17th  
Mount Justice  
1627 EST

Immediately Deke went into defensive mode. Her face stirred his memory. She'd done this to him. Why had she done that? On instinct, the shards of the door began swirling around him. He wanted to hurt the green girl, pure eye for an eye. Apparently, the boy in the black Superman shirt had something to say about it though, and immediately interposed himself between the two psychics.

He was an angry one. Deke felt it pouring off of him like he had almost no control over his emotions. Deke didn't want to hurt the guy, he was one of the heroes. Why was he protecting…?

Her. Babs? Her voice, he could hear it. "STOP!" she called out, her voice coming into clarity. She shooed Superboy and Miss Martian away, and pulled her cowl back to expose her face to him. "It's not what you think Deke. They don't want to hurt you."

"He does," Deke said, pointing behind her to Superboy. He could see his fingertip shaking, and the effort to even do that was taxing him.

"He's right, I do." Superboy grumbled, but walked away when Miss Martian touched him on the shoulder.

Barbara walked towards Deke, and put her hands softly on his face. "You're safe, I promise."

The shards of the now ruined infirmary door fell to the ground in a loud clatter as Deke wobbled on his feet. He stumbled forward, and Barbara caught him. She guided him safely to the wall and kept with him.

"Am I still your boyfriend?" He asked, almost deliriously.

"Come hell or high water, my lovely." She said kindly. She placed a kiss on his forehead, pulled her cowl back over her face, and helped him walk out into the base. Along the way, Nightwing caught up to them.

"Batman wanted to talk to him." He said, but he took the time to check Deke over. The guy was a mishmash of feelings, but he kept them _very_ well in check. Deke was of the opinion that most people could learn a thing or two from him.

"Batman's the reason this happened." Batgirl said, snapping at Nightwing. "Sorry, not your fault." She added at his hurt look. "He had no business asking M'gann to try that mind link with him."

Nightwing, took Deke's other shoulder and they both helped him to the kitchen, where he was sat down in one of the chairs. "Where were you taking him?" he asked once Deke was planted firmly and safely in his seat.

"Back to Gotham. If he sees M'gann again, he might not be coherent enough to behave, and he's on Superboy's list right now." Batgirl said, wanting to avoid any further problems. God knew there were plenty enough as is.

"Superboy will get over it, and M'gann wanted to apologize. Besides, we don't know what's wrong with him, there could be lasting damage after all that." Nightwing argued. He felt something at his hip though, which stalled further rebuttal. Deke's hand was absently swatting towards him.

"Just hungry, also right here." Deke muttered, his head down in his arms on the table like a high school nap.

"Sorry dude." Nightwing said, and then looked back quickly. "Hungry? You had a nutrient solution, you should be fine." He added incredulously.

"Killed that and the saline already." Deke said, his voice muffled in his arms. Barbara opened the fridge and grabbed a plate of PB&J's to put in front of him.

"Don't gorge on these, take your time." She cautioned, and walked with Dick towards the far end of the room. He had that look on his face, the one he'd picked up from Bruce, the one only he seemed not to notice he used. Barbara was upset, visibly, and his expression wasn't doing much to calm her.

"Batman wanted to be sure you were spending so much time with him on your own free will. He showed up out of nowhere after all, and you know how much trouble we've had with psychics in the past." Nightwing said, failing to comfort his friend.

Barbara scowled and made fists at her side. "You were worried he was compelling me to what? Betray our secrets? Sleep with him? Turn me to a life of crime without my knowledge?"

"You're sleeping with him?" Dick asked, surprised.

"If I was, it wouldn't be your business, but no. He's not like some other boys I know." Barbara retorted, aiming the statement directly at Dick. "And what's worse is that's the first thing you go to, worried my virtue is intact."

"Woah, easy. This is Batman, not me, remember? I was worried, yeah, but I wasn't 'ask M'gann to scour the guy's mind and grok this guy's intentions' kinda worried." Dick said, feeling defensive. Babs was being territorial, a trait he'd only seen a couple of other times come out in her. "I tried talking him out of it, but you know how he is."

Barbara nodded, still frowning but maybe a little less so. "I know. Are you ok with this? You've always got your opinions on the boys I choose to spend my time with, you might as well get that out too."

"I met him the other day, he seems decent and you're obviously happy. I'll put on a face around the people who seem obsessed with us running off and getting married though, if you think that'd help." Dick offered helpfully. Truth was, he had harbored a hell of a crush on her for years, but on the occasions they'd tried acting on it, it had just felt too weird. It didn't stop him from loving her, it just changed how he expressed it. "Besides, it was my idea to lend him the apartment, not Batman's. His plan was to put Artemis on you."

"I'll talk to him about that too." Barbara said. Her fury had begun to abate with Nightwing's revelations, finding focus squarely on the Batman. "I'm going to go check on my boyfriend now, if you'll excuse me."

Nightwing bade her farewell with a gesture, and walked away. When Barbara turned, however, something terrifying caught her eye. Seated across from Deke was M'gann, and both of them were completely motionless, staring at one another.

"Oh hell." She muttered and darted towards the table. There was a palpable sense of something in the air between them, and she wasn't sure exactly what to do. They both seemed calmer though. No dishes floated around them like some kind of poltergeist activity, and nothing was cracking or breaking. Barbara assumed it was a good sign and just waited.

After a moment, the two seemed to return to their senses, and M'gann immediately burst out giggling. Deke shook his head in puzzlement. "I didn't think it was that funny." He muttered before grabbing another sandwich from the plate. He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully for a moment before busting out laughing as well.

"I miss something funny?" Barbara asked, startling both of the psychics.

"Sorry," Deke said, composing himself. "Weren't you on the other side of me just a second ago?"

"That was five minutes." Barbara said to the startled psychics. "You made your apology I take it?"

"Yes! Communication between two psychics is very fast and very hard to be deceptive during. I explained everything and we just kept talking. It's easy to get lost if you find common ground. Please don't be angry." M'gann said defensively, obviously worried Batgirl would take offense to her silent conversation with the boy.

Barbara looked at her reassuringly. She was still with Connor, despite their much more frequent arguments, and even if the Martian girl were single, she still trusted her, as well as her boyfriend. That, in and of itself, was kind of strange to even think, but she found the thought comfortable. "Only if you keep us from getting to Gotham. I've got three more days of medical leave, and this one," Barbara pointed at Deke. "still owes me dinner."


	18. Chapter 18

March 17th  
Gotham City  
1745 EST

Barbara excused herself to go change into street clothes, leaving Deke to finish eating the plate of sandwiches. He felt bad once Miss Martian explained they belonged to another member of the team, Beast Boy, who Deke assumed was the green rhino who'd shown up to help in Metropolis. Deke went to fix more to replace them, but Miss Martian stopped him, saying something about that being her job. There was a definite love coming from her when she spoke about him, but it had powerful currents of nurturing affection. Maternal possibly, but probably sibling, not romantic. He didn't feel like pressing in the event it was maternal.

After getting some food in him, Deke was taken to a huge opening in the cave. Barbara explained them as Zeta tubes, and keyed in something on a holographic keyboard. "Recognize Batgirl Bee One Six. Recognize Guest Gee Zero Nine" a computerized voice said, and Deke felt the most bizarre sensation, followed by a bright flash of light.

For a moment, reality overlapped. He was standing in this cave and he was also standing in a phone booth, a piece of technology he didn't even realize still existed. This also explained why Barbara had stood so close to him when she activated the thing, as the phone booth was rather cramped.

Once reality resolved itself into just being the phone booth, Deke gave Barbara a hungry look. She batted her eyes at him and leaned in, so he kissed her, deep, his hands finding their way to the small of her back. She made a pleased sound and returned the favor, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned into him.

"I'm not complaining, but where'd that come from?" Barbara asked once they'd broken for air. She could acutely feel the flush rising to her cheeks, and saw the same reaction on his face. His expression had changed from hungry to pleased though, and he opened the phone booth door for her.

"I missed you." He said, as they exited the booth. "M'gann explained how long I was down, and she also showed me you had to just about be removed from that infirmary room I was in. So, thank you for giving a damn about me. "

So M'gann had introduced herself, not surprising given the attitude she had about identity. As for showing him her vigil, Barbara wasn't altogether thrilled. She'd wanted that to remain private. She couldn't even say he' would do it for her, because he actually had. Barbara just took Deke's hand and squeezed it lightly, she couldn't really be mad at M'gann, the girl was just trying to bring him up to speed. "You're welcome, my lovely."

She had an internal moment of appreciation; he blushed at her calling him that, and something about making the boy blush just worked for her emotional well-being. She had to be careful though, he still wasn't completely up to speed. Distracting him too much might not be the safest thing.

They strolled out of the alley, one of the few safe ones in all of Gotham, and set out onto the city streets. As they walked, the cool breeze offset the humidity of the earlier day, making it for excellent wandering weather.

"It's really beautiful out tonight." Deke said "Reminds me of someone I know."

It was Barbara's turn to blush, which she covered by showing him the tip of her tongue. She wasn't perfectly in the mold of sassy redhead by any means, but when the moment took her, she certainly didn't hide it. "Trying to butter me up?" She asked flirtatiously.

"Yeah, I am actually. That Big Belly Burger over there is calling to me." Deke said, pointing to the chain's first east coast location as well as their first all night place as well.

"You're still hungry?" Barbara asked. She was surprised, as she'd been with him through a few meals and he didn't seem to eat like, well, like Wally.

Deke nodded, delighted that she'd taken lead and headed towards the Star City favorite. "Yeah, when I do the psychometabolic thing, it has to fuel from somewhere." He told her. "That's why I look like a weightlifter too, it's just side effects."

"Good side effects." She said with an almost naughty look, running her hand up his bicep. She wasn't actually into big musclebound guys the way some other girls were, but she was certainly into him the way he was into her. She hoped that being a bit forward might encourage the same from him. If he had a problem, it's that he was too timid around her. She didn't want to be manhandled by any means, but showing a bit of aggression would certainly be nice.

Deke just blushed again, with that bashful look on his face. "Can you pretend I said something really smooth and clever about your hair, because I want to, but you keep making me forget my words."

"Do you even need words?" Barbara asked, somewhat curious. He'd never tried communicating with her using only thought.

Deke could tell what she was hinting at. Apparently, M'gann's vetting of him was satisfactory enough to make her feel comfortable with the idea, even after he'd accidentally put M'gann down for almost a day in his retaliation. "When we get back to the apartment, sure. It's pretty intimate though."

"So you were being intimate with M'gann?" Barbara teased, and watched him turn blood red.

"Nonononono!" He said, backpedaling quickly. "That was different; it was just talking really fast and using pictures!"

"So there were pictures? Did she see those looks you were giving me when you thought I wasn't watching?" Barbara said, keeping the pressure on him. The delighted look on her face and lack of malice in her presence was the only thing keeping him from just flying away in shame.

Deke retreated almost completely back into his shell though. Barbara knew she'd taken it too far, and stopped just short of the entrance to the Big Belly burger. "Hey, don't be ashamed. If you were being gross about it, I would have told you when you were doing it. Besides, I was doing it too you know." She said, putting a hand on his chest. "I think you're more attractive than you believe you are, and I think you make me feel more attractive than I think I am too."

"So, we're right for each other?" Deke said, putting a hand on top of hers against his chest. When she nodded, he took her hand and kissed it.

They left it there, and went inside to get food. He'd originally only ordered a double cheese combo, but at her prompting, he got the extra basket of fries. She got a burger as well, and they both got milkshakes. As they ate in the empty restaurant, Barbara brought up a past subject.

"Teasing aside, what did you mean by intimate?" She was genuinely curious and wanted to know what she may have foolishly asked to get herself into.

"We'd be opening ourselves up to one another, like, completely. It's like being naked in the mind." He said, blushing furiously at the mental picture of her naked at all. "We'd be able to feel each other in that moment. It's not words, it's pure emotion, but it translates, which is hard to explain. It's extremely honest though. You can omit, but you can't lie." Deke paused a moment to chew on a french fry. "It's not an invasion though, you only get what you put into it" he added, as Barbara seemed a bit put off.

"So, you'd only see what I wanted to show you, and vice versa?" She asked, for clarity. She relished the chance to learn more about psychic phenomenon and its uses. "That's it? I could show you the plot of my favorite movie, and you'd see it?"

Deke nodded enthusiastically, his mouth full of food. When he swallowed, he spoke up. "Exactly!" he said to her. "I am so glad you're smart enough to understand this." He said, dipping a few fries into his shake.

That statement was probably one of Barbara's favorite things to hear. He could describe her body like a perfected Greek ideal and it'd be something of a meh experience. That he recognized her for having a brain in her head, well, she was luckier than many. That he said so without looking directly into her cleavage was even better.

"So, if I get uncomfortable?" She asked, leading the conversation and using it as an excuse to eat some of her late dinner.

"You just shut yourself off. All humans are naturally psychic to some degree or another. We all possess that potential. The first part of what we'd be doing is priming your own mind for it." He told her, offering her a fry.

She took it from him with a delicate nibble, a thoughtful look on her face. "Meditation I assume?" once she'd swallowed her food.

"Yeah, basically." He said, and looked like he was about to say more, but that bashful derpiness took over.

"Just say it." Barbara said patiently. She would pull him out of this one way or another.

"Physical contact helps too. If you're okay with it, I could probably work some tension out of your back." Deke stammered over the words, obviously uncomfortable bring the subject up. To buy herself some time to think about it, she offered him a fry in return.

He was basically offering a massage, which truth be told she could use. Was she okay with being nude in front of him? Common sense said he'd already seen her in her underwear, but that was happenstance, not intent. She wasn't opposed to going to bed with him either, but she wasn't certain the time was right yet. Would seeing her bare be too much of an unkind tease? Selina was right; boys were more complicated than they let on.

"You know what, it's cool." Deke said, feeling the conflicting emotions coming from her. "It's not necessary or anything."

"You just wait a minute cowboy." She said, showing him the tip of her tongue between her lips. On the other hand, they were growing very close already, and she'd been a bit let down that he wasn't being aggressive enough. He'd proven capable of behaving himself, and it was clear he was honestly as smitten with her as she was with him. She trusted him enough that she was willing to consider sleeping with him in the future, but she was willing to get intimate enough to share her thoughts with him. Bare breasts were probably the least important thing to worry about. Besides, she might be able to talk him into dressing down as well. It could be a win for everyone.

"Alright, let's make this happen. I told you, I'm an inquisitive girl." She said, seeing the reaction on his face and deeming it lovely.

Deke just smiled a goofy grin. "You called me cowboy." He said with a snicker. Boys, she thought to herself, and just resigned herself to the fact that it would be one mystery she might never solve.


	19. Chapter 19

March 17th  
Gotham City  
1900 EST

They had a couple of stops to make before heading back to the apartment. First among them was a holistic health shop in one of Barbara's favorite shopping centers. The mall of Gotham was impressive and all, but something about open air locations just satisfied something unnamable in her soul.

Her boyfriend seemed embarrassed to enter the place, called Verbena, with her. If he was like this, she'd never be able to take him into Victoria's Secret. It dawned on her at the comfort she was feeling in referring to him as her boyfriend, and wondered if he felt the same way. She'd have to keep her eyes and ears open to be able to tell.

Barbara grabbed a bottle of warming oil, and then paused a moment. "Deke, do you have any allergies?" She asked of him while he was busy reading labels on shampoos and conditioners, most likely also experiencing some serious sticker shock. Bruce used this place for gift baskets and even he balked a bit. For what she hoped to experience tonight though, it was a small price to pay.

"Nope," he drawled, setting the bottle of oatmeal based shampoo back on the shelf with a careful hand, obviously afraid if he dropped or spilled it, he'd have to pay for it. "Why?"

"Sandalwood or Citrus then?" Barbara asked, holding up two bottles with a flirtatious look on her face, her deep red lips turned up in a smirk. Both smelled lovely, and she would have been pleased either way.

"Whatever makes you happy." He said with a shrug. "Sandalwood's probably gonna be more mellow though."

Behind him, a saleswoman spoke up. "Your girlfriend seems quite spirited young man. You should consider yourself lucky."

"Yes ma'am." Deke replied with that southern charm he wasn't aware he had. "Every single day."

The saleswoman gave Barbara a look Deke couldn't quite understand, but his girlfriend simply blushed and nodded in response. Deeming it beyond his level of comprehension, Deke just walked over to Barbara and looked at the bottle. "On TV when the guy says one thing, the girl always does the other." He said, noticing the bottle said Sandalwood, and also noticing her thumb was quite purposefully covering the price tag.

"I'm not some girl on TV." She said, turning around against him so that her shoulders and back rubbed against his chest, and her hair tickled his nose. That was perhaps a bit saucier than she'd planned it to be, but it was rewarding all the same when she felt his hands on her shoulders, and his lips against her cheek.

"That is absolutely the truth." Deke replied and walked up to the counter with her. That same saleswoman rang them up and dutifully tried to upsell Barbara on some kind of moisturizer that she didn't want.

"Deke, you might want to wait outside." Barbara said, getting her debit card from her pocket. More than just wanting to avoid him fretting over a $70 bottle of massage oil, she had to verify identity to make the purchase, and while it was becoming clear to her that, barring some bizarre circumstances, she was going to sleep with him eventually, she wasn't quite prepared to tell him everything about her private life. Wonder Woman definitely had it easier in this respect.

Once he'd stepped outside, Barbara completed the transaction. The saleswoman, noticing Barbara's age on her license, felt compelled to offer some advice on safe sex, which turned the girl's face a shade to match her hair.

Barbara hastily concluded her business there, and joined her boyfriend (he hadn't argued or stammered or gotten shy when the saleswoman called her his girlfriend either, that was a win.) in the open air shopping center.

It was Deke's turn to make some purchases though. He entered a place on the corner, with car window paint for signage, and very simple displays. Inside of Big Blue's candles, the smell was very earthy and comforting. There was a mingle of pipe smoke in the air as well, which also served to put her soul at ease.

"Sir," Deke said to the old timer sitting at the counter, adding a nod.

"Young man." The gentleman replied, also with the nod. "Do you fer?"

"Mess of candle." Deke all but grunted. "Biggins if y'got'em."

Barbara was puzzled for a moment at what was some strange language the two men were speaking, until she saw the large wooden clock on the wall, in the shape of the state of Kentucky, complete with a basketball playing wild cat painted on the side.

As she browsed around, the two men completed their business, with Deke collecting a small box from the man after handing over a twenty dollar bill. The old man took the money and also handed Deke a small glass jar candle, after saying something about "Mold Lady", and then gesturing towards Barbara.

"Evenin' young'uns." The old man called to them in a friendly voice as they exited.

"Go Big Blue." Deke replied, and handed Barbara the glass jar candle the old man had given him.

She opened the lid and took a sniff, her nose being tickled by the scent of honey and clover. She couldn't stifle a little giggle in delight, and then looked at Deke. "What were you all talking about? I couldn't understand you."

"We were speaking Appalachian. His wife makes the scented candles by the way, he wanted you to have it." Deke said as he checked the shoebox and seemed satisfied with what he had. Barbara leaned over and took a peek at what was inside, and noticed several short but very stout candles. The store had advertised 100% beeswax, which was getting harder and harder to collect, that Deke had only spent $20 was surprising to her.

"Is that why you got the discount?" She asked, putting her hand comfortably into his.

"Yep." Deke said, and noticed something posted on a telephone pole that he was going to have to file away for later. "You got everything you need?"

"I do." Barbara said primly. "Do you?" She asked, her delivery almost lyrical.

"Darlin', I got everything I need right here." He told her with a squeeze of her hand.

They took the train across town, content to just exist in each other's company. The sky was beginning to darken as it arrived at their station, giving them a view of the fiery colors of the sunset sky in Gotham city, burning bright against the concrete and steel of the city. Seeing this, and given what Barbara had told him about Gotham in winter, Deke could see why people fell in love with the place, despite the problems it had faced for so long.

Once upstairs, Barbara put a hand on Deke's shoulder while he unlaced his boots. "So, what's first?" She asked. The calm quiet and beauty of the day had been kind to her, and she was interested in keeping the feeling going.

"Well, a hot shower to loosen your muscles wouldn't hurt, but I need one too. You care if I go first? I have stuff to do while you're in there." He said, and looked up at her beautiful face, with the deep red lips, and the oceanic blue eyes, framed by that sunset fire hair of hers. It honestly killed him inside that she didn't know how beautiful she was. "I'll be quick."

"Go for it," She said, and kicked back on the couch, sparing a glance over her shoulder to see if he'd left the door cracked. True to his word though, he was only in there for a few minutes, and when he opened the door, an expected steam cloud didn't follow him. He was toweling his hair off though, and when he let the towel drape across his shoulders, with his long hair still damp and hanging in strands around his face, Barbara felt that familiar feeling of want creep into her. Why he didn't understand how damn hot he was, was still a bedeviling situation to her.

"Did you take a cold shower?" She asked. She'd expected a steam cloud to roll out after all. From in the kitchenette, Deke piped up over running water.

"No, just hurried as fast as I could. Didn't want to kill the hot water for you." He said as he filled a saucepan half full with water and set it on a low heat. Barbara didn't have the heart to tell him that this apartment building had small heaters on every water line. Instead, she sauntered over to him and kissed him sweetly before taking herself to the shower. "Take your time please." He called behind her, still fussing with the water on the stove.

Barbara entered the bathroom and disrobed, turning to her left and right to examine herself. The bruising was completely gone, and her surgical incision was sealed, even with the stress of a few nights ago. That brought a frown to her face as she brushed her hair out. Their date had been brought to a pretty unpleasant ending. Not so much the fighting crime, that was actually rather fun. She'd never gotten into the mix with a villain on any of her other dates, unless she counted some of the boys themselves. It was the whole situation Batman had decided needed to happen, and the way it had spiraled out of control.

"Calm yourself Gordon." She muttered to herself, feeling the anger and tension rise. This was supposed to be a good night and she was starting to fume over things. To release it, she turned the water on and stepped in, letting the hot water do its job.

As she bathed, a thought crossed her mind. She'd intended originally to keep some panties on for this, but if it was going to be like he'd told her, she was going to be baring herself anyways. She pondered her personal grooming for a moment, and then picked up her razor.

She was a natural redhead, and proud of it like so many were, so she didn't want to go completely smooth, but at the same time, she wanted to tidy everything up as well, so she went with a landing strip, finding it a fair balance, and if she was being honest, more than a little sexy.

Finally satisfied, and feeling like if she were to stay under the water much longer she might wind up medium rare, Barbara exited the shower. She took the time to put on some moisturizer, a luxury she didn't often have, and was pleased to notice she hadn't missed any spots when she shaved her legs.

She brushed her hair, taking her time like Deke had requested, letting the brush do most of the drying. It took a while, but her copper hair being so smooth and silky afterwards was worth the effort.

Finally, she wrapped herself in a towel, and stepped out of the bathroom. The lights were off, but a soft glow was coming from the cracked door of the bedroom. It left her just enough light see…

Barbara giggled to herself as she delicately picked through the trail of paper napkin roses he'd left on the floor. She'd of course deny this manner of expressing joy to anyone, but she couldn't resist it. There was something endearingly sweet about it.

Once she stepped inside the bedroom, she could see what was causing the glow. Several of the candles were sitting on saucers around the bedroom, each casting their own small light towards the whole.

Her boyfriend sat on the edge of the bed, his hair in a short ponytail, and wearing sweats and a tank top. He smiled warmly at her, and gestured towards the bed, bare of everything but the sheets.


	20. Chapter 20 (Lemony Fresh)

So, the following is the first lemon I've ever written. Please keep that in mind as you continue.

* * *

March 17th  
Gotham City  
2310 EST

Deke was in awe of her as she moved across the room, gliding with a liquid grace. She was so proud, so powerful. He was right when he called her a force of nature. She grasped her towel and laid down, letting the ends separate once she was face down. Deke pulled the towel down to expose her back and to give her bottom some coverage, and moved to grab the warm oil.

"You're going to do this in sweats?" Barbara asked, turning her head to look at him. "Hardly seems fair, doesn't it?"

He knew she was trying to help him overcome his own body issues, but to hear her all but ask him to take his clothes off? There was something frightening in that, but also something very electric about it all.

Without a word, he acquiesced, pulling his tank top off and letting his sweatpants down, leaving him bashfully nude. Barbara covered her eyes with a playful grin, and separated two of her fingers in an obvious peek.

"There you go." He said, and opened his hand, the oil coming to it. He then straddled over her hips and went to uncap the bottle when he noticed something. "You have a tattoo?"

Barbara rolled over, her arm covering her breasts and how was that so damn hot? With a better look at the art which would remain covered under a bra, he saw that it was text in simple cursive, riding along a rib and almost beneath the swell of her breast. "I am the shadow that chases the darkness." He read aloud. "That is not wrong."

Barbara tossed an errant strand of hair away from her face and laid back down into the pillows. Deke opened the bottle of oil and poured some into his hands, letting the bottle float in the air beside him. He rubbed his hands together, and placed them on her shoulders, feeling the muscle beneath her soft skin begin to ripple as she adjusted herself for comfort.

He ran his hands down her back palms down, pulling the towel away from her bottom a bit to make sure he didn't miss anything. He was surprised to see she wasn't wearing panties either, but banished the thought from his mind; instead, he turned his hands in until his thumbs nearly touched, and ran them back up in the valley in her spine.

Immediately, goosebumps formed on her skin. Beneath him she made a noise and muttered the word 'tickles' softly. Deke applied a bit more pressure, and kept up his work. As he kneaded her muscles, he let his senses shift, seeing where she wore her problems. The answer, apparently, was everywhere.

He moved his hands back down to her hips and rode the curvature of her ribs and lat muscles up to her arms before making his hands into claw like shapes, using his fingertips to brush down the worst of the knots. Of course, he cheated at this whole thing. He'd only seen how to give a woman a massage in a movie, but by the soft noises she made he seemed to be doing well enough, but it still wasn't good enough. He toyed with her body's energy flow, gently pulling at it as he worked his hands across her. With the amount of strain and stress she put herself through, he'd be here a week if he didn't, and she deserved it.

Plus, this served double duty as bringing himself more closely in line with her, which would make the goal of the evening a lot easier to reach. If she cared, she didn't show it, letting out more soft moans and sighs as his hands moved across her body, seeking trouble areas and molding them back into shape like a potter at a wheel. If being a superhero didn't pan out, he supposed he could always go into massage therapy.

Beneath him, Barbara was melting, she was sure of it. Most professionals tended to take too strong a hand, or worse, too weak of one. Deke had taken the time to dial in on her, and she could feel it. She let another moan escape her lips, and wondered for a moment if it was encouraging or teasing. Since his touch didn't change or stop, she supposed encouraging, but the near orgasmic sound she made when his thumbs put one of her vertebrae back into place might have been too much.

To Deke, it was just right. He was experiencing a rare feeling, self-satisfaction, and decided to keep it up. He slid his hands back down, almost on her behind, and began gently working her spine back into alignment. Each quiet pop elicited another loud moan from her, and if it weren't for his ability to control his body to such a degree, he'd probably have a very awkward situation to explain to her. Keeping his business in check wasn't easy though, especially when she made noises like that.

Each vertebra was its own challenge, but he kept working them gently, his hands riding every valley and curve, stopping at each one to apply a bit of pressure the correct direction. Each moan was a reward, and when he got to the vertebrae which lined with her ribs, the sounds she made were even better. Once he got to her neck, he placed one hand carefully against the side, and used gentle circular movements with his thumb, before slowly running that same thumb all the way up to the base of her skull. The sound of all of those vertebrae coming into place in a daisy chain was hellishly satisfying.

To Barbara, she'd gone past melting and had found heaven. She hadn't even balked at his hand on her neck, so sure of his care for her. Her body had never felt this good, so at ease. If that wasn't enough, she felt him lean down, his chest pressed into her back. He spoke softly into her ear, creating a whole other kind of good feeling in her.

"Are you still sure you want to keep going?" He asked her, and that was a damn foolish thing to ask. She slowly, because at this point that's all her body would allow, turned over, again resting one arm over her breasts, using the other to sit herself up.

"I'm sure." She purred, not really meaning to, but she decided it sounded good. In a rare moment, she caught him glancing as he scooted away to clean his hands with a towel. Deciding he'd earned it, she slowly moved her arm up and around her head, using it to slowly brush her hair away, and the way his jaw dropped was almost as satisfying as the massage he'd given her. Almost.

If she was trying to kill him, it was working. He caught himself staring and looked at her ocean blue eyes. She was smiling at him, and if she knew how that smile could make him do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it, he knew he'd be in trouble. All he could do was pick his jaw up from the floor and smile back as he sat back down in front of her.

"Just relax and breathe." Deke told his girlfriend, taking her hands gently. "I'll guide you." He added reassuringly, letting himself settle into rhythm with her calm breathing. He guessed she did yoga, as this breathing cycle was extremely natural to her, but whatever the reason, it made his job much, much easier.

He finally banished all thought from his mind, allowing his consciousness to drift into a primal place. Her scent, razor edged flowers for she was nothing if not dangerous beauty, was his touchstone to reality and rationality. It was touch, and be touched, as he reached out, her thoughts shone before him a bright star in a black velvet sky.

He allowed his thoughts to mingle with hers, delicately brushing against her mind. Shortly, she began to brush back, their very consciousness like gossamer, lightly caressing against each other. The lights began to mingle, like the fire of two diamonds, and slowly began to coalesce into a whole.

The sensation was strange to Barbara, but his touch was gentle and kind. She grasped to that, latching on tight once she felt like she could. He gave what she could only later describe as vague beckoning motion, and she felt herself coming towards him on her own, wanting to join with him.

It was a void of darkness turned into pure brightness, and then, it was an empty ocean. They stood on the water before one another, quite literally nude, in the sun. "This is it?" She asked, looking around.

"It is." He told her, still holding her hands. "We're in perfect sync right now." He added as he pulled himself towards her, an action she found herself performing as well. "May I show you?"

Barbara felt like she was in a dream, but it was so real. She could feel his heartbeat, and it pounded in rhythm with her own. "Show me what?" She asked, looking at him so close.

"How I feel." He replied. When she nodded, he opened himself up a bit more, giving her in a thought the distillate of what she'd inspired in him. It was explosive, like a white hot fire, but it didn't burn her. It was the nuclear reaction of a star and the force of a thousand earthquakes, but she stood against it. It was wind and thunder, and an animal roar. It was power. Barbara could tell without thought. She made him feel powerful, but more than that, these reactions were all momentary things, and the sudden absences showed just as much. She made him feel at peace.

Barbara was swept away in it, letting the power and the calm wash around her as it happened. "I'd like to show you how I feel too." She said, and let herself open up as well, letting a torrent loose. She was unfired clay, molten glass, and iron in the flames. She was vulnerable, but moments away from incredible strength. She was a cat's eyes in the darkness, a tree in the wind, and a secret shared. She told him that she could be vulnerable with him, that she also didn't have to live with her guard up. That she trusted him.

Their feelings crashed against each other as waves, rising up from the ocean upon which they stood. At their meeting, the water turned to flame and burst, brightening the sky to make the sun seem dull, and the tide rose. Their astral forms pressed further into one another, for a moment becoming a single, joyous union, when the final crash struck and they were flung the endless miles back to their own minds.

They gasped in unison, eyes flying wide open. Deke wasted no time, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her. Barbara replied by taking the back of his head with her hands, trying to melt back into him again. Their tongues, urgent in each other's mouths, began to weave back and forth, as their hands began to explore.

Barbara put her hands on his chest, feeling his heartbeat thundering in union with hers, and then just kept touching him, not taking her hands away. Deke held her above the waist and let his hands glide up, brushing her breasts before moving to around, one hand behind her head and the other at the small of her back, in the arch she'd created trying to crush her lips deeper into his.

Their breathing was coming in ragged gasps as they ignored their own breath in trying to seek out the others. Dissatisfied with even the sparse distance, Barbara leaned into him, letting him pull her towards him, her now taut nipples pushed into his chest. She drew her legs up into a kneeling position and moved to straddle him while he still sat. She didn't know when it had started, but there was a fire, low in her abdomen, and it was building. For most of her teenage years, Barbara had been forced to live distant. it was being this close to someone that had set her alight.

"Are you sure?" he managed to gasp from around her kisses. He'd stopped controlling his body, and his reaction to her was both visible and hard to ignore. "We don't have to…"

"It will never be more perfect," she said, and whimpered as he moved his lips to her neck, kissing below her ear. She saw as his hand went out to the nightstand, the drawer sliding open at his long distance touch. At this, she stopped him, pulling his head away from her neck. She said something about a pill, and went back to kissing him.

Deke found her breasts proper, and he took the time to let them fill his hands, using his thumbs to brush across her nipples. While he did that, Barbara positioned herself over him, and reached between them to guide him inside her. When the tip had just brushed her opening, she whispered into his ear.

"Link us." She asked, somewhere between pleading and demanding. Deke let his body's own energy match hers more completely, and allowed himself to focus on her, listening to her.

When Barbara felt the tingle, she lowered herself onto him. She was very aroused, but took her time, coming down on him slowly, a long, low moan coming from her throat as she felt him move into her just a bit at a time, the friction deliciously agonizing. She had no idea how big he was in relation, she only knew that she could feel herself being stretched, and even that wasn't quenching the fire within her, only pushing her further.

When he was fully inside her, she whispered again into his ear, knowing it did things to him, the kinds of things she wanted. "This is my first time." She said, and through their shared thoughts, Deke knew it to be true. He figured she knew it was his as well, but he couldn't not say something to her.

Instead, he began a slow rocking motion, purely on instinct. "Mine too." He said, catching her blue eyes with the pupils dilated almost completely, and holding them while he held her against his chest and just began slowly moving with her. That she'd trusted him with this moment in her life meant a great deal to him, and he was honored to share the experience with her.

They rocked together for a moment, getting used to feel of one another. She felt perfect to him, her body grasping him just firmly enough. The intensity of the fire between them was incredible, and before long they were moving more, her body undulating against him as she tried to quench the fire within her, all the while making these little throaty noises, almost whimpering in frustration.

Deke put a hand against her stomach and leaned her back, bending at the shoulders to kiss her abdomen, all the way up to her neck, before coming back down the path he'd created to run his tongue across her nipples. At the moment, everything was electric, threatening to overload them both. Barbara leaned back on one hand for support, and clasped his head to her breast with the other.

Her hair kept getting in the way, but every time she swept her head to clear it, she made a picture, like every still frame of her in motion was perfection personified. Every pant, every moan, every breath she made was a pure expression in the orange glow of the candlelight.

The sweat dripped from them in rivulets down their bodies as they held together. Neither were really in control at this point, it was the very serious business of virgins, moving on instinct and trying to light that fire even brighter, but still, that pressure just kept building, and building, threatening to rip Barbara apart if she couldn't just let it loose. It seemed like every time she wanted to move, or change speed, he was already reacting, giving her whatever she wanted at the moment.

They leaned back, one or the other, trying to find the right leverage. She touched him, he touched her, their hands were all over each other, and it was incredible. "Babs," Deke said, and her name on his lips was intense. If he had something else to say, he'd forgotten it.

"Deacon." She said, and something began to change. That burning was beginning to brighten. "Oh God." She whimpered as they finally found the right angle, the right rhythm, and the right moment. I'm…" She managed to say before she saw stars.

That brightness grew and grew. Her world went hazy as he said her name again, but the moment happened. She cried out, wrapping both arms around his head and clutching him to her breasts as she felt assaulted by her orgasm, which coincided with his, the sensations magnifying within each other. He put his hands against her back, his grip strong as he drove into her a final time, his mind going completely blank as their hips met and he finished within her, the explosion in his body timing perfectly with hers. She nearly screamed as she was overtaken by the combination of their climaxes, unable to properly control herself.

They came down together, trying valiantly to catch their breath. Barbara wanted to think something, but she couldn't. She could only feel an emptiness as he withdrew from her to lay her down on the pillows so he could join her.

They laid there, together, a sweaty pile of one another, slowly letting their breathing get back to normal. Still, she wanted to think a thought, but nothing would come to her. Vaguely, she could hear her name, but it was just noise until it was united with purpose. He kissed her again, deeply. She was quenched steel, and he was at the eye of the storm.

Vaguely, Barbara became aware this was not how she'd planned her first time to go. Artemis had described one thing, Zatanna another, Rocket a third. She wasn't going to just kiss and tell, but when she felt comfortable talking about this, she was certain none of them would be able to top this story. Still, when she looked over at her boyfriend's face, and saw him at peace, she knew that, despite being nothing like she expected, it was everything she'd wanted.

"Full disclosure," Barbara said through panting breath. "This happened a lot sooner than I'd originally wanted to."

"You, uh, you started it" Deke said, taking a gulping breath, trying to force more oxygen into his body."You regretting it already?" He asked, worried he'd been party to a decision she'd wind up hating him for.

"Only if you're gone tomorrow." She said, and kissed her boy.

"Never." He told her, and he damn well meant it.


	21. Chapter 21

March 18th

Gotham City

0230 EST

Deke didn't bother getting out of bed to put the candles out, he was far too tired. He had just enough left in him to pull his girlfriend close, laying in the dark together. Outside, rain began to patter on the windows, with lightning flashing in the distance. It was peaceful, calm, just lying together like this.

"Babs?" He said, looking down at her.

"Deke?" She replied, nuzzling comfortably into his chest.

He just stroked her hair, still silky and always fiery. "I'm Marshall O'Connelly, Deacon is my middle name. I wanted to start new so I decided to change my name."

"I know," She murmured as she got herself more comfortable. "I figured you'd tell me when you were ready, but Batman told me first."

"Cool," He said as he rested his arm behind his head on the pillow, just watching the rain fall outside.

"Gordon. My last name is Gordon." She told him after a moment's thought. Bats would not take well to this, but she didn't particularly care. She's been inside her own head her whole life, and she'd been inside Deke's too. She'd been craving the trust for a while now. "When's your birthday?"

"Three weeks from…" Deke said, and looked at the clock on the bedside table. "Today actually. April 8th. Yours?"

"September 23rd." She said, her voice sleepy. His stroking of her hair and the rain outside wasn't helping her any, not to mention the sheer exhaustion she felt after they'd? She wasn't sure what to call it. It was too intense for lovemaking, too emotional for fucking, and too raw for sex.

"I'll get you something nice." Deke said, but he was nearly asleep as he said it. Barbara was already snoring softly.

* * *

The next morning, Barbara awoke to the sun beaming through the windows, directly in her face. Deke's arm was still around her, his fingertips just barely touching her breast. There was something hilarious about that, and Barbara couldn't stifle her laugh completely.

She moved his arm and rolled over onto her stomach, an action which was more painful than she'd expected. Their… she just went with lovemaking because it seemed classier, had left her a lot more sore than the other girls had mentioned, but then again, they'd all complained at how quick it had been.

"Hey Cowboy, you awake?" Barbara said as she lifted her feet in the air behind her, vaguely swaying back and forth over her bare bottom. She heard him snicker as his eyes opened, and she decided in that moment she'd found a pet name for him.

"Yep." He drawled, rubbing his eyes. She was beautiful, even with her hair tangled in bed head, and her eyes still trying to wake completely up. A week ago, he would have traded his life for anything. Now, there was nothing in this universe that would make him give up this moment. "M' awake." He muttered.

"Who's getting breakfast and who's making coffee?" She asked, her stomach already rumbling.

Deke pondered it a moment. "I'll do breakfast." He said, and pulled himself to a sitting position, suddenly remembering he was still naked, and sporting a man's traditional morning reaction.

Barbara couldn't resist, reaching out and grabbing it, giving it a light squeeze. "Tonight. I want to do that again."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you enjoyed yourself." Deke said earnestly. Barbara took her hand back before it turned into a tease, and rolled off the bed and onto her feet, with just enough bounce to punctuate the point. She was some woman, there was no arguing that. Deke was happier though, that she felt like she could be herself, not the woman in the mask.

"You know for a fact I did." She said, looking around for clothes. Deke rose from the bed and excused himself to the bathroom, leaving her to select something to wear. She went with a comfortable t-shirt and yoga pants, which reminded her she'd missed yoga this week. When he returned to dig for his sweats, she traded him places and ran a shower.

She definitely needed to clean herself up. She'd been _extremely_ wet, and he'd contributed his own to it. As the water ran, she was grateful Canary had secured League level birth control for the girls on the team. Not that Barbara needed to hear it, but apparently the pill she was on would prevent Superman from conceiving, let alone a mere mortal. Barbara knew there were some very unpleasant reasons that Canary had taken the initiative on this, and she'd had that conversation, but the fact that she absolutely refused to tell the rest of the League who'd chosen to take them and who hadn't, was just another reason to respect Canary more. That it allowed her to be perfectly and totally intimate in her first time, she almost wanted to send the older Hero a thank you card for it.

Barbara bathed quickly, and decided to wash her hair again after the sheer amount of sweat she'd produced the night before. She also kind of wished she could have seen it, and that thought brought a naughty flush to her face. She wasn't the kind to be turned on by a camera, especially with how much she knew about electronics and wireless signal, but for that one night, it might have been worth it.

When she exited the bathroom, feeling much cleaner and much more awake, her nose caught a whiff of breakfast sausage. "What are you cooking?" She asked, leaning over the counter of the kitchenette.

In a pan, he had sausage crumbled, and the oven light was on. A quick glance at the trash can showed her a tube of biscuits as well. She had her answer, but she liked hearing him say it.

"Something you can't get made right this far north." He said, adding milk to the sausage in the skillet. "Proper biscuits and gravy, my mom's recipe."

Barbara walked around the counter and kissed him. "Can't wait." She said, and busied herself making coffee. While she went about it, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"I've got some stuff to do this morning and afternoon. I promised my dad I'd have lunch with him, and I have to handle some personal stuff." Barbara told him. "I'll meet you for dinner though?"

"Cool. I saw a sign saying there was some work for Spanish speakers today at some market around lunchtime, and I have to get the stuff for Ropa Vieja anyway." Deke said, still stirring and adding milk until he was satisfied.

Barbara handed him a cup of the coffee she'd been working on, and grabbed the things to set the table while he completed breakfast. (cheating, by using his powers to get the tray of biscuits from the oven). When they were done, he made them each a plate, and then waited on her to dig in. He had this look, like a puppy, when she took her first bite. She found it absolutely adorable, making her squint her eyes and crinkle her nose at him.

She'd had this before. Gotham had more than a few breakfast joints, but the hot mix of sausage and pepper was much creamier and richer than restaurant fare. She smiled and nodded, sticking her fork back in for another bite, an action which brought a huge grin to Deke's face.

They ate relatively quietly, both very hungry after their 'activities' last night. Barbara excused herself afterwards, kissing him sweetly on her way out, leaving Deke to learn that, while he hated seeing her leave, he loved watching her go, especially in those pants.

He cleaned up the breakfast mess, and then decided to throw the bedsheets in the wash. They definitely smelled like sweaty sex and eventually, someone else might want to sleep on them. While they washed, he bathed, though the hot water revealed some welts on his back, four on either side, roughly as wide as Barbara's fingers. He wasn't a detective, but Deke was pretty sure he knew who the culprit was.

He flicked a gesture at the television, hitting the on switch from the bedroom so he wasn't in total silence, and went to the bedroom to put on some actual clothes. He was extremely bummed he'd already lost that suit jacket he'd bought, but when he saw it in the closet with a note pinned to it, he couldn't resist putting it on.

The note read 'I think you forgot this. Thanks for the help.' It was signed with a very flourished letter Z, leaving no doubt who he needed to thank. Deke tucked that letter into his wallet so he wouldn't forget to show proper gratitude, and then sat on the bed to ponder for a moment.

The night previous, it had been intense. Pleasurable for sure, but extremely intense. He didn't have any doubts, but the voice in his head which had been his constant companion was reminding him that Barbara still had plenty of reason to regret every minute of it. It told him that he couldn't possibly have been worthy to be a part of it all, and that it would be a miracle if she even came back to the apartment tonight.

But then, Deke remembered. She'd been the one, every single time, to convince him to be tall and proud. She's the one who asked to be kissed. She's the one who wanted to make love to him. She trusted him to help protect people in Metropolis. She trusted him with her name. She trusted him with her first time. He'd been afraid, and she's the one who'd been building him up. That nasty little voice was the wrecking ball.

"She calls me Cowboy." He finally said with a goofy grin.


	22. Chapter 22

"/ /" used to indicate translation. I honestly didn't want to run all the dialog through Google translate, and then trust my high school Spanish classes to help me make it correct. I figured this approach might be less offensive to native Spanish speakers.

* * *

March 18th  
Gotham City  
1200 EST

Deke wandered into the Mercado Gotham. The place was brightly colored, and had the most vibrant smells. Salsa music could be heard everywhere, and people were busy conducting their grocery shopping at dozens of small vendors. Locals called the place Little San Juan due to the large Puerto Rican population, but he could also recognize Cuban, and Mexican flags, and a few others he assumed were Central or South American in origin.

Deke had grabbed one of the flyers from a telephone pole on his way to the train station, and double checked the address. He looked up, and saw he was in the right place. Sure enough, there were easily two hundred people packed into a small hollow in the busy side streets. Many of these were Caucasian people, most in rather classy attire, and they were busy trying to get into a warehouse the hollow butted up against.

Deke looked around; holding the flyer up hoping it would get someone's attention, which mercifully, it did after a few minutes. The crowd was killing him, all of them wanting to be inside that warehouse so bad, it was like a riptide. That he caught someone's attention so fast was an absolute Godsend.

A younger man approached him, and didn't even bother with pleasantries. "/Fluent Spanish and English speaker, with a solid vocabulary?/" he asked in incredibly fast Spanish.

"/Yessir, near native./" Deke replied, still trying to edge away from the crowd.

"/You sound Cuban./" The man said. "/You can handle a few different accents right?/"

"/Not a problem if the pay is good./" Deke countered.

"/Good answer. You get two percent commission on whatever the gringos buy. You'll be assigned one and will assist them at the auction. You can call me Mister Ruiz./"

"/Deacon./" Deke replied, and offered his hand. This Mister Ruiz shook it professionally and led him into the warehouse. Inside, there were far fewer people, most of them in groups. Occasionally, someone would walk by while someone led them through. On tables, there were several pieces of art, mostly sculpture, but also paintings and some precious metalwork.

Deke was quickly assigned to an older couple, both of them seemed extremely wealthy. The man introduced himself as Doctor Watkins, and the woman as his wife Mrs. Watkins. Deke had dealt with enough people who replaced their first name with a title or honorific to know he probably wasn't going to like them. It's like they had no faith that someone might know how to use their courtesies.

And, as the day went on, he was pretty much right. Deke served as a translator between this Doctor and the artists and vendors in the warehouse, often having to try and convey the Doctor trying to be cheap in a way that didn't insult the artist, and vice versa. Of course, his powers also came in handy, allowing him to gauge just how far he could push an artist, and just how much this Doctor Watkins was willing to spend on any one specific thing. He hated hustling like this, but he still didn't have a job proper, and he justified it by telling himself nobody was getting really cheated.

By the end of the day, the Doctor had taken thirty grand worth of art from these artists, coming from places like Columbia, Mexico, Santa Prisca, and Nicaragua. Most of it went towards a solid gold statue that Deke prayed wasn't actually some illegally looted artifact.

After they left, Deke looked for Mr. Ruiz, hoping he might have another buyer to assign him. Instead, the man handed him a wad of twenties and told him he could help himself to lunch in the back, and to come back in a week if he still wanted to make money.

Deke couldn't be too disappointed, he'd earned, on his own. It meant Gotham didn't have to bury him. He knew the apartment wouldn't be permanent, and he wasn't about to breach the subject of moving in with his girlfriend so soon. He decided a free lunch would be a victory, and followed his nose through the dimly lit warehouse.

In the back, several people were chattering, dining, and carrying on. They were all Latino, and Deke suddenly felt extremely out of place. A few gave him strange looks, but most ignored him once he grabbed his plate and went to the catering trays full of food.

Deke picked through them, grabbing some enchiladas, a couple of tamales, and a generous helping of beans and rice. An aloe water was his drink, and he took these things to an empty table to eat.

Before he could fit the first bite in his mouth though, someone sat down at the table with him. "Hey man," the guy said in barely accented English. "First time translating?" He was young, with a thick mane of hair and a small patch of hair on his chin.

"Oh yeah." Deke replied around a mouthful of tamale. "Deke." He said, offering his hand.

The other man took it. "Ramon." He said, and shook. "You local?"

"Ish." Deke replied. "I live here now, but I just moved in a few months ago."

Ramon gave a friendly look. "The money's good here if you know how to play the buyers, but you might want to consider getting better work the first chance you get. The income isn't exactly taxable, and Ruiz isn't loyal, you dig me Papi?"

"Yep. I figured. I dunno why I didn't try getting a translator gig when I moved here actually." Deke said, kind of disappointed in himself. He might judge himself harshly, but Otra Mami had taught him damn well and he knew it.

"Cause you speak Spanish. If you knew German or Russian or something, you could rake dough all day. Everybody and their brother know enough Spanish to get by." Ramon said, almost lamenting it. "It's hard to talk shit in front of people anymore." He added, stealing a few beans off of Deke's plate.

Deke couldn't really argue that, and chewed on his food for a moment. "Are we allowed to buy here?" He asked, remembering a couple of items as he guided the Doctor and Mrs. Watkins through the place.

"No way Papi, they can't have the help looking like the same class as the buyers. You need something though, my family runs a bunch of stalls outside in the Mercado proper." Ramon answered, and Deke could tell by the look on his face that that general attitude didn't sit well with him.

They talked a while longer while Deke ate. Ramon got himself a second plate as well, and gave Deke the ins and outs of the gig, which seemed less and less legitimate as the guy went on. Deke didn't get the vibe he was facilitating art and artifact theft and resell, and Ramon flat out said that the few drug dealers get removed pretty quick, but there seemed to be a lot of import taxes being dodged. When he was done eating, he offered his hand to Ramon again.

"It was good to meet you, I'll probably catch you next week." He said to his new acquaintance. "Any of your family sell groceries by the way?"

"Oh yeah Papi, my Tia runs a bodega a block over, she's probably got what you need, just look for the Puerto Rican flag. By the way, what are you doing tomorrow?" Ramon said, standing up with Deke and shaking his hand again.

"If my girlfriend is free, I wanted to take her out somewhere." Deke said, hoping she hadn't made plans, or decided to get back into her cape and cowl a bit early..

"Cool, you're bringing your mamacita to the pro-jos here tomorrow night around nine. We party pretty big, and it ain't like most of Gotham, it's safe there. We don't tolerate bangers and their bullshit. Bring some food and come hungry, comprende?" Ramon said, his friendliness infectious. Deke felt no deception or ulterior motive from the man, and decided it could be fun. It also meant he was spending more of the money he'd just earned, but it wasn't a waste as far as he was concerned.

First, Deke hit the bodega, where a middle aged Puerto Rican woman was so ecstatic that he spoke Spanish that she seemed about to keel over out of joy. It strayed into uncomfortable territory when she showed him a picture of her daughter, promising him that she had no children and she was on track to finish high school on time. When he explained he'd committed himself to someone else, she seemed not to take great offense though, and ushered him through the store, helping him make his selections.

Next, he visited an outdoor clothing vendor, and wound up standing there puzzled for a few minutes, realizing had had absolutely zero idea what sizes Barbara wore. The abuela who ran the place seemed to recognize his difficulties though, and began asking him several questions.

"Gringa?" She asked first. When Deke nodded, she gestured to a different section of her stall.

"/What about her hair?/" She asked next. When Deke answered with red, she then picked several items out and laid them on top of everything else.

"/Okay, sizes. Or was that what was confusing you.?/" Deke was amazed at the elderly lady. She was 100% business and she apparently didn't have the time to mess around. When he nodded, she gave an Ay Dios Mio and walked around her stall.

"/Ok, hips./" She said, and held his hands out in front of him. Realizing what she meant, Deke began estimating, using his powers to magnify his recall. Of course, his memory of having hands on her hips made the moment a bit more uncomfortable than he'd planned.

When he stopped, the abuela made a note on an old notepad that had seen better days. "/Waist?/" she asked next, and again, Deke used his hands as measurement, bringing them in a several inches.

The abuela muttered some comment about having a hard time having babies, and then made another note. "Chi-Chi's?" She asked next, and Deke, feeling way uncomfortable already, held his cupped hands in front of his own chest in an approximation of Barbara's bust.

The abuela noted that too, and then took this information to her pile of folded clothes. She pulled several skirts and tops, and then pointed to Deke's left hand. When he showed it to her, she set some of the more conservative cut tops away, but also put aside a few rather dangerously low cut tops as well.

It still left him with a lot to choose from. He knew she liked purples a lot. Her sun dress on their first date had a lot of that color, and she probably wouldn't have worn something on a date she felt unattractive in. All of the tops were shades of white, so he went with something without much adornment, in a square cut neck, and paired it with a purple linen skirt that would probably hit almost to her ankles. Most importantly, it looked like she'd still be able to kick ass while wearing it.

He paid the woman, probably less than these clothes should really be worth, so he tossed an extra ten her way, explaining it as thanks for her help. He fretted that she wouldn't appreciate having clothes bought for her, but it was too late now. Finally, he found a small pawn shop, and picked up something that was absolutely a selfish purchase.

It was time to get cooking. Quite literally, he had to get back to the apartment to get the flank steak ready, it needed to slow cook for as long as possible.


	23. Chapter 23

March 18th  
Gotham City  
1730 EST

Barbara had experienced one of the busier, but also more productive days of her life. She was just glad she'd gone to talk to Bruce first, to get that awful experience out of the way. He'd of course acted like he heard everything she was protesting, and then basically gave her a sorry not sorry. Honestly, if it hadn't been for Alfred, not so gently reminding him that he was being, well, Batman about things, she might have legitimately stormed off.

In the end though, he seemed like he was doing every bit of this out of genuine love and concern, and had finally agreed that he'd perhaps gone too far. (Alfred pointing out Master Dick's dates never receiving the same treatment might have had something to do with it, this including Mistress Zatanna who was certainly a bigger threat if she felt the need.) Barbara hadn't expected much more than that really. She knew he'd only raised boys, and the fact that he was willing to try meant plenty. She only wished they could find their middle ground before she finished college and began considering whether or not she wanted to have a family.

Afterwards, she'd surprised her father, who'd insisted on taking the rest of the day off to spend with her. They'd grabbed pizza for lunch, and ate in one of Gotham's parks. The conversation had of course gone to her recent injuries and another futile attempt to have her hang up the cowl. Barbara of course held firm, but she knew he was proud of her. Afterwards, she was able to convince him to go to yoga with him, even resorting to the dirty trick of using his age against him. If she ever had doubts that she was his daughter, their response to being told they couldn't do something would certainly set her straight.

The yoga class itself was probably the most productive activity she'd done that day. Stretching herself out had gone from pleasant to absolutely necessary, and made her vow to take the next time with her Cowboy a lot easier. She'd also almost boxed herself into a corner as far as Deke was concerned. Her dad had wanted to take her to dinner as well, but when she mentioned dinner plans, he suddenly got very curious. She answered him as honestly as possible, and told him that she wasn't sure they were at the 'meet the parents' stage of things just yet. She did agree to get ice cream with him as soon as possible. It was one of her favorite things to do with her Dad; though getting him into a yoga class was working its way to a close second.

When Barbara finally got back to the apartment, the first thing she noticed was the most incredible smells coming from the kitchenette right by the door. The next thing she noticed was her Cowboy sitting on the couch, tuning a guitar.

"Of course you play guitar." She said, showing him the tip of her tongue. Deke sat the old acoustic down carefully, got up, and greeted her at the door.

"Hey you!" He said, and kissed her. "Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours. I think otra mami will be proud." He added, gesturing towards the kitchen.

"It smells seriously good." She said, kissing her boy back and walking with him to the living space of the apartment. There was a very old guitar case, the lid held on with a single hinge and duct tape, laying in the floor, and a large paper bag sitting next to it.

"Where did you go today?" She asked, looking at his purchases.

"Little San Juan." He said, looking very proud of himself, and that was so damn sexy to her, how could that look so attractive? "I did some translating work and made a bit of money, bought dinner, this old guitar, and a little something for you, with plenty to spare."

"You bought me something?" Barbara asked, surprised that he'd get her a gift already. She had faith in him that he wasn't getting creepy, but it was still quite early. She hadn't planned on buying him anything until his birthday.

Deke picked up the plain paper bag and held onto it for a moment. "Well, consider it a bribe. I got an invitation to a party in Little San Juan tomorrow night from one of the guys I worked with today. I was going to surprise you with it, but, well, just take a look." He said, offering her the bag.

Barbara was taken back a bit when she peeked inside and saw the linen clothing. She pulled the items out, stood up, and held them against her body. They were certainly beautiful, and her boy, more thoughtful than alert, had left the price tags on. Seeing he hadn't dropped a ton of money was relieving. "How'd you know what size to get?"

"Guesswork, memory, and a very helpful saleswoman." Deke said to her. "Try them on when you get a minute, but, if it's all the same, surprise me tomorrow night, provided they fit." He asked with an eyebrow in the air.

Barbara actually hadn't had anything to do at the moment, so she took the outfit to the bedroom and laid them on the bed. She then peeled herself out of her clothes, fully in view of the still open door, taking a moment to look out at him and wink. When she was fully undressed, she shut the door slowly, letting the click of the latch punctuate her action.

Then, she considered the outfit. It was a loose weave linen, and extremely soft. The skirt, with a very simple elastic waistband, pulled right on, and felt wonderful against her legs and was a lovely shade of purple. He'd apparently been paying good attention, something she appreciated.

The shirt also fit quite well, hugging her breasts without squeezing them. On a whim, she pulled the shirt off, removed her bra, and put the shirt back on. Puberty had been kind to her, so going braless wasn't a frequent decision, but if it hadn't been white linen during a Gotham spring, she would have done it. It was extremely flattering in design though, so she decided to save the idea, for her boy on his birthday.

Barbara got herself redressed, though she changed into some less substantial panties first, and forewent the bra altogether. She hadn't been kidding when she said she wanted another go tonight. He was someone she trusted, he obviously wasn't in it just for the sex, and while her experience was limited to one night, he was able to satisfy her. There was no good reason not to.

She also decided to grab one of Deke's tee shirts. It was nearly a dress on her, but she liked the way the neck slipped just off of one of her shoulders. Just cute enough, and incredibly comfortable.

Of course, his reaction when she stepped back into the living space was also rather nice too. "So, you gonna play that thing or just sit there tuning it all night?" She asked, very intentionally changing the subject.

He'd been satisfied with the tuning for a while now, he just wasn't sure what he was going to play. A beat up old acoustic demanded a certain kind of song after all. Not just anything would do, not for an instrument with this kind of history. He'd actually learned on his dad's old guitar, learning to play his mom's favorite songs when his dad wasn't around to play it anymore, but he wasn't sure what she'd like to hear.

Finally, he said to hell with it, and began strumming, calling up an old Brooks and Dunn tune that conjured thoughts of the redheaded force of nature he called a girlfriend. He'd never be on American Idol, but he still gave it all he had, singing 'Nothin' bout you' to her.

It might not have been perfectly descriptive, but she didn't seem to care. Her face split wide in delight as he sang, to her and nobody else. Yeah, it wasn't her favorite music, but she could tell he was thinking of her when he sang, and it made her heart grow warm. The only thing that bothered her was how he dared to sway his head as he sang, that loose bit of hair draping down over his face, making it hard to think.

He finished the song out and set the guitar down in the case with a shaky hand, his face bright red. "Did, did you like that?" He asked, and his answer was so much better. She slid out of the chair with that liquid grace of hers, and straddled him, kissing him deep. She leaned a bit over him, nipped at his bottom lip and gave a laughing smile at him, her hair tickling his face while she did. Damn if the girl didn't know how to be encouraging.

"I want to hear more of that." She told him. Deke knew she wasn't asking him to sing more songs to her, she just wanted him to play. "I want to hear every song you know." Yeah, Deke wasn't exactly the most devout guy in the world, but she left little doubt that God had put her on Earth for special things.

"Ok, I got a few more while dinner cooks." He said, the red in his face not totally gone. She'd done more to him on a more… primal level too, which made sitting and playing just a bit more difficult. He ran through most of what he could call a set list, though he definitely needed to knock the rust off as a few of the more complex tunes he was capable of didn't quite sound right. Mostly he played old rock and some country tunes, but he tossed in a couple of newer songs as well. By the end of it, he'd decided he was going to try writing one too. That little voice was already telling him that it would suck, but Deke was able to shut it out for the moment.

When he'd finished, Barbara clapped for him and gave him a warm look. She didn't say it, but he felt her pride coming off of her. "You know, if you'd led with that, we might have been able to skip a lot of the awkward will we/won't we?" she told him.

"I liked the awkward will we/won't we." He told her as he stood up, offering her a hand. She took it in a truly ladylike fashion, and walked with him to the small dining table. "I felt like we needed the awkward."

"You think we needed the awkward? Why?" She asked as he began setting their plates. If they hadn't done that dance around each other, they could have been enjoying each other without having to struggle with their initial feelings.

"Because," Deke said from the kitchen, putting rice and black beans on the plates next to the ropa vieja. "I know I was interested in you, but if I hadn't had to struggle with myself, I might have just let it go out of fear. I needed that internal battle to light a fire under my ass when you asked me. Were you that set on me?"

Barbara thought about it for a minute. "My heart was, but my brain wasn't catching up. I thought it was hormones at first, but I guess if we hadn't done things the way we had, I would have left it at that and not pursued."

Deke sat the plates of Cuban food down on the table and beckoned to a pair of aloe water bottles in the kitchen, which came floating to join the rest of the meal setting. "So, once again, we were living in our own heads?" He said, sitting down.

"Yeah, we were made for each other Cowboy." She said, and watched him reflexively snicker. She took a look at the steaming dish before her, grabbed her fork, and dug in. The flavor was interesting. It was extremely complex for only having a few ingredients, and then holy damn there were habaneros in there.

"Did I get too excited about the chilies?" Deke asked, suddenly worried she hated it and would never trust his cooking again.

Barbara shook her head and downed a quick drink. "No, just, could you warn a girl next time?" Properly prepared, she took another bite, and then another, just to be sure, and one after that just in case she missed something. "It's good," she said with a smile. "But you're going to have to make this about once a week for a while."

"I got no problem with that." He said


	24. Chapter 24 (Lemonade)

March 18th  
Gotham City  
2000 EST

After dinner, Barbara decided to do the cleanup, and shooed Deke away while she tossed everything into the dishwasher. He'd been doing all the cooking and cleaning the past several days, and while it was certainly nice, she wasn't about to just sit and let him keep doing it. It just plain wasn't fair.

Once that very quick task was finished, she sat down on the couch with her boy, and they flipped through a little television. She wasn't big on vegging on tv, and it looked like he wasn't either, as they were just passing the remote back and forth. They finally settled on the music channels and just relaxed into one another for a while.

Of course, that wouldn't last too long. Deke had been planting little kisses on her head as she lay on his shoulder, and she'd worked his timing out. The next time he tried it, she turned her head and intercepted his kisses on her lips. After that, there was no going back to the television.

Deke kissed her deeply, not waiting on her prompting to use any tongue. While he did, he worked one arm around behind her, and the other under her knees. Barbara let him pick her up, wrapping her arms around his neck as he did. Deke wasn't sure if she realized how much he loved it, he was just happy she'd done it.

He carried her into the bedroom, and laid her down on the bed. She rather liked this attitude from him, taking some initiative without being domineering, which was probably wise when dealing with a redhead. Deke joined her, and they kissed for a while, rolling one another over to take charge for a while.

Deciding to try something, Deke focused on Barbara's thoughts a bit more than usual, listening without really probing into them, so when she wanted his hands on her hips, he was able to oblige. She rocked a bit into that, grinding on him as she arched her back.

Deke began kissing and nibbling on her neck, the pleased and surprised sounds she made, music to his ears. She began getting a bit handsy with him, putting her palms on his chest. The moment she decided she'd like him to return the favor, he was already sliding his hands up the shirt she was wearing. His reaction to her lack of bra was amusing and stimulating.

Her nipples were already stiff peaks as she'd been one shade of turned on or another most of the evening. He worked them gently with his hands, dialing in just how firm she wanted based on her thoughts and reactions.

When she pulled the shirt off, Deke leaned up and licked one, which apparently was the right thing to do as she arched her back more and moaned softly. Barbara was still grinding on him, so when he pulled his knees up and pushed himself into a sitting position in the middle of the bed, she was mildly startled, offering a small giggle, though that went away as he switched his attention to her other nipple, this one he took into his mouth and began sucking and nibbling.

Barbara ran her hands across his head, taking a moment to pull the elastic band from his hair, so she could then run her fingers properly through his mane. Deke responded by sliding one of his hands around and onto her bottom, squeezing just right. He then alternated to her other nipple, giving it the same treatment.

He nipped a bit on one of her nipples, causing her to moan and arch her back, which seemed to be his plan all along. Deke ran his hand up her abdomen, kissing as low as he could with her straddling him, and then just kept pushing. Barbara, flexible as hell, just went with the motion, until her back was on the bed and he was trailing kisses to her belly button. The effect was definitely stimulating, but it tickled her too, causing goosebumps to rise. He immediately added just a bit more pressure, trying to keep her from losing the mood from laughter.

Deke marveled at her body, and the musculature she possessed. He wanted to trail a finger across her six pack, but decided not to tickle her. Not like that at least. Instead, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of her yoga pants, and slid them down. As he did, he looked at her face. He knew she welcomed his undressing of her, but he wanted to see her face.

She looked at him, an almost predatory smile on her face, as she bent her arms behind her head and flexed her torso up, putting her sex into his face. Deke could smell her scent through the tiny thong she wore, and wanted very badly to taste her then. She'd given him perfect access to finish undressing her though, so he first pulled her panties down with her pants. Barbara relaxed, laying back down on the bed, having gotten her feet back under her properly, and lifted her legs into the air so he could completely undress her.

She lay there, completely nude, and though Deke preferred the way she looked in sweat and candlelight, he still found her absolutely beautiful. He absently wished he could paint as he laid down on his stomach before her, as her body deserved to be respected for the work of art she'd made it.

He could also feel her anticipation, and focused in on her. He had no experience in how to please a woman with his tongue, so he relied on her reactions to guide him. She was dewy with arousal, and smelled a bit sweet, which Deke figured is why smutty literature occasionally referred to it as a honeypot. Finally mustering the courage to just try and please her, he stuck his tongue out, and trailed it up along her lips.

Barbara was, in her mind, asking for more of that, so he obliged, taking his time, exploring her as he worked. As he did, the reactions of her body became as much a guide as her thoughts. The occasional lick along her thigh brought more goosebumps, but licking too far around the outside wasn't quite as productive. Once he'd figured a few things out, he went for it, still slow, but keeping to the things he'd learned she liked.

Deke avoided her button on purpose. He didn't know much, but he'd at least learned to save it for last, so when he gave it a long, slow lick, and she gasped and grabbed the hair on the back of his head, he knew not to come away. Instead of just obeying her wants, he went slowly, hearing her almost beg for him to be more aggressive. He couldn't keep that up for long though, her pleasure was too important to him. Finally, he flicked his tongue more quickly against her, occasionally using the tip to tap against it, and her reaction was magnificent.

Barbara had hated being teased, so when he finally went for it, she wasn't sure what to do besides grab his head and hold on. She felt that low fire pulse bright, and mercifully, it didn't just keep gradually building on her. Her moans got louder and louder, her free hand gripped the bedsheets, and when her orgasm hit, she let out one short shriek and just locked in place for a moment.

Deke kept up his pace, but he sensed her growing discomfort, so he slowed down to a stop, letting her ride out the sensation. She went from frozen in place to near spasms in her legs and breathing. "I did good?" he drawled as he slid up her body to look at her.

"You did very good." She said, her blue eyes dilated wide. Without thinking, she kissed him, and got a taste of herself. She'd never gotten the courage to try after taking care of herself, but she wasn't displeased either. Apparently, he found it hot though, if the sudden noise he made in his throat was any indication. "And why are you still dressed?" She added once she'd broken away from the kiss.

Immediately, Barbara set out to remedy that, pulling his shirt up until his arms were almost tied up in it, and only his nose and mouth were free of the neck hole. This gave her an idea, one that Deke was aware of the moment it occurred, so when she twisted the bottom hem of his shirt to lock his arms up and keep him blindfolded, he didn't protest or struggle. Since Barbara had wanted him blindfolded, he did stop listening so intently to her thoughts, figuring the surprise would be worth it.

It was her turn to push him down onto the bed, and she had to force herself to calm down in order to operate his belt buckle. It functioned no differently than a woman's belt, but somehow the design had left her flummoxed for a moment, though still reeling from orgasm might have had something to do with it.

Finally getting it loose, she slid off the bed and pulled his jeans off, taking his shorts with him. Pure sexual instinct drove her to want to get on with it and have him, but she wanted to take her time, so she crawled along him, letting her breasts tickle him and yes, she had her revenge for all the goosebumps he'd given her!

Barbara stopped at his jawline, kissing along it, cupping his cheek with her free hand. She moved down his neck and she watched him shudder and twist with a reflexive smile on his face. Her hand moved down his chest, feeling the solid muscles beneath her fingertips. As she kissed and licked, occasionally blowing on the trails of saliva she'd left, he squirmed about, but when she tried on his nipples, he began squirming worse. She decided she liked this squirming, and began tracing her fingertips up and down against his abs as she kissed, painfully slowly, down his body.

She avoided contact with his shaft, though her fingertips flitted so very close, enough so that it seemed to jerk of its own accord. She initially found the sight of it very silly, but she assumed her own parts looked just as strange to someone who didn't have them. Speaking of parts though, she was just as inexperienced in the whole oral sex business. She wanted to try but all she really knew was not to use teeth, which seemed like pure common sense. Some women called it pure degradation; others called it the ultimate power over their men. She really didn't have an opinion either way, but she wanted to please him the way he'd pleased her.

She initially took him in hand, slowly stroking him as she worked her kisses lower. His very low moans, almost animal like, were of great encouragement. She knew the only way to learn was to try though, so she licked her lips and then took him in her mouth.

His reaction was extremely encouraging, and very satisfying. He took a deep gasp of breath in as she worked her mouth around it and began slowly bobbing her head, getting used to him being in her mouth. He wasn't massive, but she assumed that he wasn't small either, as it took some doing to really get accustomed to it. He seemed to be enjoying it though, his breath more like panting. She bobbed her head a bit more, tightening her lips around his shaft, and properly sucking on it for several minutes.

Occasionally, she'd pull away and lick around it for a while. The night before had such an urgency that her natural inquisitiveness had taken a back seat. Her boy didn't seem to care though, as it seemed like whatever she did felt good. He didn't seem to be faking either, as a small bead had formed on the tip. She touched her finger to it, and watched it pull away, intrigued by it all. This gave her an idea, and she dipped a finger between her legs. She was near furiously wet, and played with herself a moment, getting her finger slick, before using it to stroke him.

The warm slickness was incredibly welcome, and she stroked him for a bit before adding her mouth. The taste of the two of them mingled, which was certainly different. She didn't hate it though, and just settled into a rhythm, finally knowing how much of him was comfortable in her mouth.

This caused some rather unique reactions, Deke trying to clench his hands, occasionally grabbing at the sheets. She didn't like how his hips would occasionally buck, but when he finally got himself under control and began stroking her hair the experience became much nicer.

"Please slow down." He said, almost begging her. "I'm not ready to finish." Barbara honestly hadn't thought about that, but she couldn't blame him. She still craved that closeness too, and between her orgasm and desire to please him for a while, it had only gotten worse, that familiar fire stoking brighter.

Deke pulled his shirt completely off and pulled her up to him for a kiss. He used the opportunity to focus back on her thoughts and desires, and he could feel her desire growing. An idea overcame him, and he grabbed her by the shoulders and rolled with her, watching her hair toss about in the most magnificent way.

Barbara giggled at this, but deep down, she wanted it too. She'd initiated it their first time, so his boldness was very welcome. Deke ran his hands down her legs, lifted them gently, and then worked himself between them. He gave her a look, wanting that last proof of permission, and when she gave it, he lined himself up with her and slowly entered her.

Barbara felt that delicious stretching, a bit less friction with their foreplay, which made it better. He took his time, which she appreciated. She'd never used toys to scratch her own itches so his was the only thing she'd had within her. "Deke." She said in a moan, using his name because it felt sexy.

Barbara bent her legs at the knees and rested her ankles on either of his shoulders. Finally to the hilt, he began pumping slowly, letting her get re-accustomed to the motion. He took his time with this too, her body feeling like absolute heaven. She watched him throw his head back in pleasure, and felt a great pride that she was responsible for it.

They slowly picked up the pace, though he still didn't exactly jackhammer her, just gliding in and out of her, letting her moans guide him. They kept at it a while before she decided she wanted to be in charge for a while, finally fully in the moment.

She used her ankles to guide him to one side, and she carefully rolled with him, wanting to keep him inside her as she found her way on top, where she began rocking with him, arching her back so beautifully so more of her spots could be hit. Deke just watched this in awe, loving the way her breasts looked in that pose. He leaned up to take one of her nipples in his mouth, but she gently pushed him back down and tossed her hair as that growing pressure kept building within her.

Deke had to take action though. Between her attention to him and the sheer magnificence that was his girl when she was in the moment, he felt way too close to his own finish. He had to literally shut down most of his pleasure centers, making this particular moment more about psychological gratification. He didn't mind it one bit, and he was sure she wouldn't either as he wanted to last quite a while.

When he felt her beginning to tire, he sat back up again, rocking with her, holding her near to him so her lips were right next to his ear. She was still building up to another orgasm and the sounds she was making were driving him wild. He loved knowing she was feeling so good because of him.

Deke nibbled at her ear as they ground into one another, holding onto her bottom with one hand and her back with the other. This time though, he could feel it when she dug her fingernails in. He almost used his powers to fortify his skin but decided not to. It was more real this way, and he instead relished the slight pain she was inflicting.

Slowly, too damn slowly, Barbara was approaching the edge, all the sensations she was feeling becoming more and more powerful. Deke sensed it, and lifted up at his hips, letting her drop more fully onto him, her clit dragging against his skin slightly, and laid her down before driving his hips harder into her. The combined sensations lit her fuse though. "Faster!" She said, still digging her fingernails into his shoulders as she kept repeating her request. Deke could only oblige her, finally cutting loose. She made him feel powerful, and he was going to be powerful for her. It was rare that he felt so primal, but in the moment it was the only thing that seemed right.

Her moans became louder, and came quicker as he drove into her, her fuse nearing the end, before finally setting off. Barbara pulled him close to her, locked her ankles at the small of his back, and nearly screamed as her climax tore through her, setting every nerve on fire and then suddenly freezing. When he could break the grip her legs had on him, Deke put her legs back on his shoulders and leaned forward, driving himself as deep as he could go, and if she thought she was done, she was wrong, because another orgasm hit immediately after.

She climaxed several times in rapid succession, finally having to turn her head into the pillow to keep from screaming. He was able to feel just how wet she'd gotten from the multiple orgasms, the area immediately surrounding his shaft was soaked. She was getting tired though, and so was he, so he dropped his control over his own body, and rode it out with her. One more orgasm hit her, and this one was so intense that she really had screamed at first before arching her back and positively shredding his back with her fingernails. The sensations were so intense that Deke felt himself arrive at the edge as well.

"Babs, baby, I'm about to…" he said, unable to properly form thought. "I'm about to…" and Barbara whispered into his ear.

The hot ice sensation struck him. He was blind to what was happening as his body was rocked with several jolts in rapid succession. Barbara felt him pulse within her, and the sensation set her off once more, though this one was mercifully less powerful than the previous. Finally, Deke was able to move again, and just face planted on the bed beside her.


	25. Chapter 25

March 18th  
Gotham City  
2135 EST

Barbara struggled to get her breath. Her thoughts were a jumble, and for a moment she just babbled, unable to coherently use the English language. She was left with just blinking, trying to summon her facilities. Slowly, they came back to her, and she was able to understand her world.

Her boy was still face down, his body rising and falling horizontally as he too caught his breath. What surprised her were all the welts and blood trails on his back. Barbara looked at her fingernails and realized that she was the only one who could have caused it. She hadn't even remembered digging into him.

First things first though, she, very wobbly, got to her feet and stumbled naked to the bathroom to pee. She tried cleaning herself up afterwards, but knew she was going to have to do a more thorough job later on tonight, or tomorrow. Eventually they were going to have to invest in condoms just to control the mess, or she was going to have to see how she felt about letting him finish on her. The thought brought a giggle as she pictured it in the most cartoony way possible.

Barbara washed her hands and walked back into the bedroom. Deke hadn't moved an inch, but some of those scratches she'd left were still bleeding. The idea didn't sit well with her. An occasional hickey (where it could be hidden) was one thing, but this seemed a whole other. At least one author on a website made it out like these were just marks of love, but she felt like love wasn't supposed to look so violent.

"Hey Cowboy, you alive?" she asked, poking him softly in the ribs.

"Yep. Just barely" He murmured and turned his head to look at her. She just laid down next to him, also on her stomach.

"So, your back…" She started, but he just shook his head at her.

"I don't care, I really don't. You did it last night too, ain't no big deal." He said to her, and rolled onto his side so he could properly stroke her hair all the way to the ends, tickling her back gently.

"You don't 'belong' to me." She said, her blue eyes growing dark. "We're not each other's property."

"You don't own me, but I do belong to you. At least part of me does, and I like to think a part of you does belong to me. We give each other a part of ourselves with every kiss, with every hug, not just when we sleep togethrt." He said to her with a gentle smile. "And I earned these. I made you feel good, and I promise you, that's all I ever wanna do."

"Well, me too," Barbara protested. "but that doesn't look like it felt good, or are you into pain? Because I feel like that's a conversation we should have had before tonight."

Deke shook his head. She was trying her damndest to hold to her beliefs and integrity, and he couldn't help but respect the hell out of her for it, but he just didn't feel the same way. "I'm not into pain. I'm into you, like crazy into you. All of this," he said, gesturing awkwardly towards his back. "makes it feel real."

"I just," Barbara began, and then considered her words carefully. "I can't abide relationship violence. Some people get into being rough, and that's okay when it's consensual and safe, but I just acted without thinking and I feel kinda like a bitch for it."

"You ain't a bitch darlin'" Deke drawled. His accent seemed to come out worse after sex. "A bitch wouldn't care what she did." To punctuate the point, he snuggled close to her and wrapped her up in his arms.

"You're crazy into me, huh?" She asked, wiggling against him to get comfortable.

"Yep." He said simply, momentarily reaching behind him to make a gesture at the window, opening it a bit to let a cool breeze in. Their body heat was still extremely intense.

"I'm crazy into you too Cowboy." She murmured. "How'd you get so good?"

"I was raised right I suppose. Maybe I'm just inspired by this girl I know. You'd like her." He said to her, tickling her ribs ever so slightly.

"Yeah? You'd like this boy I know too. He's a good guy." Barbara said, shooing his hand away from tickling her further.

"We should fix them up. I bet they'd hit it off." He said, moving his tickling hand to her hip.

"I bet they would." She said, and shooed his hand away again, trying to stifle her laughter. "Hey, if I offer to wash your hair for you, will you wash mine?"

"Do I still get to tickle you?" he asked, though he stopped tickling long enough to get her response.

"Maybe later." She replied, and rolled over to look at him.

"How about we go again?" He asked her, tracing his fingertips over her breast lightly.

"Definitely later." She said, though his touch sent a shiver up her spine and dammit he gave her goosebumps again.

"Ok, I accept your terms." He said, and moved his arms so she could get up.

They walked through the dark apartment into the bathroom and Barbara ran the water to allow it to heat up. It took a little bit because of the individual heaters, but that bought her time to clean the scratches she left on him. She wasn't sure if he could even get an infection, but there was no reason to risk it when they had a minute. While she worked, it put an image into her mind.

She pondered it for a moment, nibbling her bottom lip while she considered bringing it up. If she mentioned it, it might snowball the wrong way, but if she didn't, she might be stealing an opportunity from him. "How did you feel about what happened in Metropolis? I never really asked you."

That was certainly an off the wall thing to ask him, but his answer came quick enough. "Honestly, I loved it. I got to make a difference."

"If I could get you onto a team, how would you feel about it?" She asked, hesitant. Some people had too much pride, and while he really didn't seem the type, she couldn't predict his responses as accurately as she'd like yet.

"Well," Deke said as she finished daubing his scratches. "I mean that'd be great, but I don't wanna screw up and make you look bad."

"Deacon, what did I say about worrying about making me look bad?" Barbara admonished him as she put a hand into the shower to check the temperature. It felt perfect.

"To not do it." He said, sounding properly chastised. "But seriously, that would probably solve a lot of the problems I've had since I've gotten to Gotham."

"I can talk to Nightwing and Batman if you want. No promises though, but I doubt Batman would waste talent." She offered, pulling him gently into the water with her. He followed suit and for the love of God she looked so hot with the water pouring down her body like that. "

She noticed him not saying anything for a moment and tickled his abs to get a response. "Sorry, yeah, that'd be awesome. After your medical leave though, okay? If it's good news, I want to spend as much time with you like this as I can, and if it's bad news, I don't wanna wreck the next couple of days being mopey about it."

"Deal," Barbara said, and handed him a shampoo bottle. She let her hair get properly soaked and then turned around, backing into him, maybe intentionally grinding her bottom into his crotch a little.

Deke tried to ignore the sensation and set about washing her hair, taking his sweet time to give her a bit of a scalp massage, which she most certainly seemed to appreciate. She hated to divide her focus from it, but she took the opportunity to properly clean herself, feeling much better afterwards.

Barbara rinsed the shampoo out and handed Deke the conditioner, turning around again to push her back into his chest. He went at this task as well, relishing running his fingers through her now deep auburn hair.

Once complete, she turned around, pressing her breasts firmly into him. She didn't miss part of him twitch, but she still needed time to recover so she didn't push the matter. They turned around, almost dancing in the shower, and she watched as he got into the water and damn, maybe that's why he went derpy a minute ago, if she looked like that with the water hitting her.

Barbara discovered a small problem though, once he'd gotten his hair wet. "Arch your back. " She said, solving the problem quickly enough. He was just a bit too tall to do this easily. His bottle of three in one floated to her hand and she swatted lightly at his behind. "Showoff."

"Yep." He said, and then for the second time that evening, he lost his ability to speak because of her. Her fingertips felt incredible on his head, enough that he didn't really notice how far back he was leaning.

And, it was over far too soon, but Deke imagined he had this huge pile of suds on his head. When she laughed, he had his answer, so he stuck his head in the water, rinsing his hair out. After that, it was another full body press and dance, so Barbara could rinse her conditioner out. He wanted to help with that, feeling her hair turn into pure silk in his hands. Absently, he wondered if he had some kind of fetish, but ultimately decided he didn't care.

They washed each other afterwards, laughing and giggling at themselves. Before she could rinse though, Deke looked at her for a moment. "Yes Cowboy?" Barbara asked him, her blue eyes bright.

"We're pretty much done with romance for the night, right?" He asked, which was a puzzling thing to ask, all things considered.

"Yes please, why?" She replied, genuinely curious as to why he'd ask.

Deke answered by spinning her slowly around before rubbing on her shoulders. Between the hot water, the earlier sex, and his touch, Barbara felt herself melting into his hands. The soap made her skin slick, which was a fun tactile sensation for him too. He couldn't keep at it for very long though, as it was getting late and sleeping with her was apparently always going to be an exhausting experience.

"Why'd you stop?" Barbara asked when he finally did.

"We're going to shrivel up into these funky little mole people if we're in here much longer." Deke said in his most deadpan, straight faced voice. Barbara burst out laughing at him, and turned the water off.


	26. Chapter 26

March 19th

Gotham City

0857 EST

Deke awoke to the sun in his face and a still cool breeze coming in through the window he'd forgotten to shut after he and Barbara had gone to bed. There was a smell of coffee in the air though, which brought his green eyes more into focus. There was something else though, and it took a moment to suss it out. There were two distinct female voices in the other room.

Ok, no wandering out into the apartment naked, and probably no wandering out into the apartment in just a pair of shorts. Deke looked around for the shirt Barbara had borrowed from him, but didn't see it. He did see a pair of his sweats laying on the floor though, so he pulled those on commando, which to be real felt a lot nicer than he'd expected. He then brought his bag to him, and dug out another tee shirt, this one a lot looser fit. His back still felt a bit raw and he didn't want something snug rubbing on them.

Finally, he exited the bedroom, running his hand through his hair. "Mornin' sleepyhead." He heard his girlfriend call out in a chipper voice. She was in his tee shirt again (ok, it was hers now apparently) and loose pajama pants which still seemed engineered specifically to make her behind look amazing.

"About time you woke up." The other woman said. Deke finally looked at her. Slender, really long blonde hair, vaguely Asian features, dressed in jeans, and a white shirt. She was pretty in her own way, but looked in no way familiar.

"Artemis, this is Deke. Deke, Artemis." Barbara said, introducing them quickly. She sauntered into the kitchen and grabbed the coffee pot, topping their cups off and pouring him one as well.

"Howdy," Deke muttered. "I'd be all pleasant and stuff, but just woke up and all. Thank you darlin'"

"Don't bother," Artemis said. "I don't want to be awake this early either."

"She got used to sleeping in when she retired from the life." Barbara said. "I was on the team with her for a while."

After taking a sip of coffee, Deke was able to put two and two together. "You're the Artemis that Batman had following Babs, right?"

"Yep, that's me, and uhm, nice butt." She said, winking at him. An icy feeling gripped him. Had she been watching when he and Babs had gotten intimate?

"Relax, I looked away." She said "After a few minutes anyway."

Deke was trying to form words but he couldn't. He felt heat crawling up his face and was convinced he was as red as his girlfriend's hair.

"Don't mind her," Barbara said, putting a hand on his arm. "You should have heard what she said to me."

"Talk about blushing." Artemis said offhandedly. "So, seriously, Babs says you're really into her?"

Deke nodded, still mortified. "Yeah," he finally managed to say. "Very much so."

"I can tell, and I'm happy for her, so keep that up, alright?" Artemis said. She could have threatened him, but she felt like she'd already shut him completely down, so considered the point moot.

"I plan to." Deke replied, and remembered his manners. "I was going to take Babs to breakfast, would you like to join us?"

Barbara seemed pleased at this revelation, and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, come to breakfast with us. It's what, six in the morning in Palo Alto? Wally can't be expecting you that early."

Artemis pondered for a moment. "He's not expecting me until the day after tomorrow actually. I don't want to interrupt you two though."

"I think we can survive. Besides, Deke and I talked last night…" Artemis snickered at that, interrupting Barbara, but waved her on to keep talking. "We talked last night, and I'm going to ask Nightwing if there's a place on the team for him. Artemis, what's so damn funny?"

"I'm sorry big guy." Artemis said, patting Deke on the arm. "But if you call that talking, I don't know what to tell you." She could barely keep a straight face through it all. Deke just took another sip of coffee and decided he needed to get dressed in proper clothing, which, he realized, was just putting on underwear and jeans. Hardly enough time to regain his composure.

After a moment, Barbara peeked in to make sure he was decent, then slipped in with him. "Artemis means well," She began, trying to explain her friend's very forward attitude.

"I'm the touchy one, I know. I'm trying." He said. Barbara didn't need to explain anyone to him. The fact that he hadn't just ran away out of crippling shyness was a testament to her patience and attention. "I'll get over it, I promise."

"I know you will Cowboy." Barbara said, and peeled out of her pajamas quickly. She didn't want to give him any ideas, and she also hurried before she got any ideas of her own. Not to be rude, Deke slipped out of the bedroom, pulling the door behind him.

"Oh, if you think there's anything in there I haven't seen, you're mistaken." Artemis said, teasing at Barbara. She leaned her head out the door and showed Artemis the tip of her tongue before going back to dressing.

"Promises, promises Red, but what would Wally say?" Artemis quipped.

"Plenty of things I don't want to hear." Barbara called out from the bedroom. Deke could feel the friendship between them though, it was quite palpable, and certainly helped him feel at ease.

Artemis stood up and stepped in front of Deke as he was slipping his feet into his boots. "Hey, between you and me, a lot of people were worried she'd never get out of her own head long enough to share her life with someone. Seriously, thank you for just being a good guy for her."

"I promise you, it's mutual." Deke said, taking a knee to tie his boots. "She really does mean the world to me."

"I can tell." Artemis said, and walked over to the bedroom. She threw the door open and just stood there.

"What Artemis?" Barbara said, trying to get her bra on.

"Nice rack. Now hurry up, you mentioned breakfast and now I'm hungry." Artemis said, just having fun with her friend. Since she'd retired from the life, she'd missed being able to just goof off like this.

Barbara tossed something at her, and walked out of the bedroom. Deke looked over and saw her, and just shook his head. She was gorgeous in whatever she wore. Today it was just jeans and a tee shirt and she was just beautiful. Barbara caught him looking and smiled at him with a blush.

She quickly did a bit of makeup, mostly eyeliner and some lipstick, and then grabbed her shoes as she headed towards the door. "We having breakfast or what?"

They made their way to a small diner not far away, someplace Barbara and Artemis seemed to know quite well. Once again, Barbara didn't bother to look at the menu, and neither did Artemis. To drive the point home, the waitress, and middle aged woman named Luanne, simply set two mugs in front of them and began to pour.

"Morning ladies. The usual?" the waitress asked, wiping up the bit of coffee that had dribbled out when she poured.

"Yes please." Artemis said

"Me too." Barbara added.

"What about pretty boy?" She asked, looking at Deke with a wink.

"Do you trust me?" Barbara asked. She knew he'd say yes, but she still needed to ask.

"Always." He replied simply. He was blushing again, but not so bad this time.

"Three egg ham and cheese, bacon on the side, and toast." Barbara said. Deke could only give a proud look. She just got him.

"She get you right?" Their server asked.

"Yes ma'am, and orange juice with the food please." Deke added. When their server walked away, Deke put his hand on Barbara's knee and gave it a squeeze. She turned and looked at him with a warm smile, then kissed him on the nose.

"Okay you two." Artemis said. "I haven't seen mine in almost a week, and we're not to the stage of needing weeks apart yet."

"I'm seriously sorry you were asked to keep an eye on me." Barbara said. "That wasn't fair of him to ask."

"It's cool Babs, it really is. When you two went to Metropolis, I was able to spend some time with mom. You know how much I miss that." Artemis said. "Yeah, it was a lot of nagging about grandchildren, but I think she only does that to get a rise out of me."

"Dad doesn't touch the topic at all with me." Barbara said, sounding very relieved. "I think he thinks he's too young, and I'm perfectly okay with that."

"Have you introduced him yet?" Artemis asked. Deke could feel mischief rolling off of her in waves, but she kept a straight face the whole time.

Barbara made a face at her friend. "I was going to wait actually. The details of our meeting were, unique after all, and I don't want to lie to my dad." She turned to face her boy. "Were you like, dead set on meeting my dad already?"

"Whenever you're cool with it. I figured it'd be a while before you could meet Otra Mami and Otra Papi too. I'd love for you to meet them eventually though." Deke replied, and he began to realize what Artemis was doing.

"I want to." She said and leaned into her boy. Artemis' goal was plain to Barbara too. She'd realized that both Babs and Deke were too busy physically, to work out some of the more normal details of a relationship.

"Food's here!" Artemis said, confident she'd put them on the right track. She and Wally had ignored some of the big relationship conversations in lieu of just spending more time in bed. It was fun, but it left them lacking later. Getting these two thinking about things would be helpful in the long run.


	27. Chapter 27

March 19th

Gotham City

1118 EST

Artemis had left after breakfast, wanting to surprise her love. Deke and Barbara wished her well, and then spent some time walking their breakfast off. It was a chilly morning, closer to a normal Gotham spring, which left them walking tightly together.

They window shopped a bit, Deke taking care to memorize everything she found interesting. He also had to actually struggle with a problem of his. He was extreme low maintenance, and Barbara started getting frustrated with him for not showing much interest in things. He finally got the idea that she was trying to figure out something for his birthday, and had broken down and made a bit of a show about a high volume military style backpack in the window of a surplus store.

As they walked, hands clasped tightly, Barbara kept glancing into the GCPD cruisers as they rolled on past. With physical contact, it was almost impossible for Deke to ignore the tension she kept feeling every time she saw another patrol car. He couldn't not ask about it. "Do you have warrants or something, because that might have been something we should have had a conversation about already." He said, using her own words from last night.

Barbara frowned. Dating a psychic presented some unique challenges, especially for a woman who really did hate lying to her loved ones. "No, my dad is a cop." She said. "You know how you grew up in a hospital? I grew up in police stations. Most of the city cops know me, and I'm worried they're going to call my dad and tell him I'm out with a boy."

"Is your dad one of those shotgun polishers?" Deke asked, wondering if that was the case, or that she just wasn't ready to mention him to her dad. He really didn't mind it, given the unique situation she was in, and the still short duration of their relationship.

"Yes and no. He's more subtle." Barbara said, and couldn't help but feel proud of her dad when she mentioned it. "If I told him I was bringing a date home, or if I was getting picked up, he'd be sure to hit the range that day, come home reeking of gunpowder, and talking about how young cops couldn't hit with fifteen shots what he could hit with six."

"Ok, I like your dad already." Deke said, trying to put her at ease. "If you want to head back to the apartment though, I understand."

Barbara stopped in front of the Macy's window. "No, you know what, if he calls or something, fine. I'm not going to fret about this all day. I know he trusts me to make good decisions so he can trust me if I want to wait."

"So, I'm a good decision?" Deke said, cocking an eyebrow.

"You're high on the list Cowboy." She said, and squeezed his hand.

They wandered around for a while longer before catching a light lunch, hitting the grocery store, and heading back to the apartment. Barbara excused herself to make a few phone calls, and Deke made food to bring to the fiesta they'd been invited to, going with some slow cooked pulled chicken. He figured there'd be plenty of it there, but he didn't want to be the guy that brought a couple of two liters.

With that braising in the oven, he pulled up on the couch and strummed his guitar quietly, until Barbara exited the bedroom looking extremely pleased with herself. Deke quit strumming and gave her a bemused look. "You look happy." He said, stating the obvious.

"I am." She said, sitting beside him and kissing his cheekbone. "The team is in a very slow period, so I took a month off. I'm on emergency call though." Barbara kept kissing him every couple of words, little pecks that warmed his heart. "And, Artemis talked to Wally when she got home, and he kind of spilled the beans to Nightwing."

"About what?" Deke asked, setting his guitar back in the case.

"About you joining the team. Nightwing had already planned on trying to recruit you, but he held off when he realized we were involved. He agreed to give you a proper tryout after the month passed." Barbara explained to her boy. She leaned up and stole a more proper kiss from him, and laid down, face up, on his lap. "I'd told her when she showed up earlier."

"So, we're getting exactly what we wanted." Deke reasoned out. "I'll call that a win."

"We'd have to go to Happy Harbor in two days though, because I'll be on emergency call." She told him, not sure how attached to Gotham he was. He didn't seem to mind too much, and really only seemed concerned with playing with her hair.

"I'm cool with that. Do I need to do anything?" He asked, not sure about what it took to get into the superhero gig, besides committing to it.

"You're not a public figure, so your identity is up to you." Barbara said, stifling a yawn. "You really need a name though, and some kind of costume."

"I already know what I'd wear." Deke asked, still stroking her hair, enjoying being able to play with fire. "Might be a little bit before I can afford it, unless I get lucky and find the stuff cheaper than I expect."

"You're going to surprise me, aren't you?" Barbara asked, feeling at ease with his fingertips in her hair.

"Yes'm." Deke said, and watched her blue eyes close. He leaned back into the sofa, still absently toying with her hair, and considered where his life was leading him. He had powers, might as well use them. Would getting work with her team mean they'd have to break it off though? He didn't think so, since M'gann and Superboy were a thing. What if he wasn't cut out for it?

These thoughts plagued him for a while, that little bastard of a voice in his head telling him every single horrible thing that was going to go wrong.

"You're in your head again." He heard as a hand touched his face. Looking down, he saw Barbara's blue eyes looking up at him with the most angelic expression. "Makes it hard for a girl to nap."

Deke muttered an apology, going back to absently stroking her hair. Barbara sat up though, and turned to look at him. "You trust me, right?" She asked, the question a lot more rhetorical than usual.

"Well yeah." He said to her.

"And you care about me, right?" She asked, again, rhetorical. "You believe I'm smart?"

"Yeah." He said, wondering where she was going.

"Then why don't you listen to me when I tell you I believe in you?" Barbara said. "You know I wouldn't lie to you to make you feel better."

"I know you wouldn't." Deke said. "I just, I guess I feel like you're the only one who does sometimes."

"That's because you've been cooped up with me for a week." She reminded him, which was fundamentally true. Aside of meeting a couple of her friends, they'd really only been engaging with one another. "So, let me propose something."

"It's a bit sudden, but I'm not bothered that you asked me." He said, trying to be funny.

"Don't change the subject, you'll like this. "If you promise to just relax and stay out of your head tonight, I will take care of you when we get home, and I do mean take care of you." She said, with all the right emphasis.

"What if I can't?" Deke asked.

"I'm not worried about it, I know I'm right." Barbara said, showing off a bit of sass.

"Okay then." Deke said, and got up, heading towards the kitchenette, glad one of them was confident. He messed around with the food he was making, while Barbara had gone into the bedroom. She came out in yoga pants and a sports bra and still looked amazing, with a blue mat under her arm.

She winked at him, and unrolled the mat before fiddling with her phone for a moment. Eventually, Deke could hear someone giving muted instructions, and decided to just watch his girlfriend do yoga. It was maybe a little less hot than the movies made it out to be, but she still looked sexy as she worked herself out. Deke had a feeling this wasn't the kind of stuff people started out with, because within a short period of time, she was beginning to work up a sheen of sweat.

It only got more intense from there. He'd almost forgot about cooking, his attention firmly on her, bending and twisting herself, holding herself up in ways he could never fathom. The sweat dripped from her forehead down her nose, and gave her a shine. She definitely put to rest the argument that women glow.

After an hour, she finally slowed into a stop, and looked at her boy. "You want to try it tomorrow?" She asked with a wink.

His powers were about ninety percent responsible for his physique. Something like this might wind up killing him. How could he say no though? "Hell yeah." He said, knowing he was going to regret it tomorrow.


	28. Chapter 28

March 19th  
Gotham City  
2045 EST

They relaxed for a while after she'd finished her yoga, just lazing the afternoon away. Deke played a bit more for her, and she'd been encouraging as could be about it. She'd even talked him into bringing his guitar with him, which had taken some doing, but he'd finally capitulated.

After a shower, Barbara had changed into the outfit he'd bought her for the evening. When Deke finished his own shower, he stepped out of the bathroom and got his first look at her in it, and she was not disappointed in his reaction. His green eyes had opened wide and his jaw had literally dropped. "Ay dios mio mamacita." Was all he could spit out.

Her boy hadn't disappointed her either, pairing a black button down with a tank top, and keeping it casual with jeans. He'd gone for a half tail style with his hair, letting most of his hair hang while keeping it out of his face. How he could do this to himself and still not get it was beyond her though.

They'd gathered the food and headed out after that, taking the train to the Little San Juan neighborhood. Barbara remembered this neighborhood being terrible when she was a little girl, but then Batman had shown up. He'd gone after the big money organized criminals first, but he never did tolerate the gangs either, and his efforts showed in places like this. It really was one of the Gotham success stories, the locals uniting once Batman had crippled the gangs running things.

It hadn't been hard to find the fiesta, with all the lights strung about and all the people laughing and carrying on. Sure, a few gave them some confused looks as they walked up, but when an old abuela pointed at Barbara with an approving look on her face, the gathered people seemed a lot more welcoming.

"Why'd she point at me?" Barbara asked as she sat down the tray of pulled chicken.

"She sold me the outfit you're wearing." Deke replied with a wink.

Behind them, they heard an energetic "Bienvenidos!" and turned to see Ramon approaching them, arms out wide. He hugged the both of them and took a peek at their food offering.

"So, introduce me Papi!" Ramon said, beaming at Barbara.

"This is mi novia, Barbara. Babs, this is Ramon. He's the one who invited us." Deke said, introducing them. Barbara extended her hand and Ramon just ignored it and hugged her again.

"She's pretty Papi. I see why you were working so hard now." He said, and it occurred to Deke that he hadn't met Ramon until lunch. How'd he knowm how hard Deke had worked. The guy was apparently just a born wingman. The world needed more people like that.

Barbara smiled prettily and offered a thank you to him. She spent so much time trying to be recognized for more than a set of tits, and she'd been very successful in the endeavor, but the occasional compliment on her appearance was welcome too, especially since he wasn't being creepy about it.

"So, we're about to eat, there's beers and stuff in the coolers if you're not driving, and if I didn't know better, it looks like you bought the guitar my cousin pawned a few months ago." Ramon continued, taking a peek at some of the other dishes.

"I bought it at the pawn shop a few blocks away, so it might be." Deke said, also leaning in to look at the food on the row of tables. Every bit of it looked delicious, and he'd avoided eating to make room for this. He was glad he'd trusted Ramon.

A consummate host, Ramon introduced them around, talking like he'd known them for years. Most of the people here were extended family, or referred to as such. Everyone was extremely welcoming too, though several of the older women had kept trying to convince Barbara to put more food on her plate.

After a while of mingling about and meeting people, Barbara was able to step away to eat in peace, before another abuela or tia was able to try and feed her more. She knew they meant well, but she only had so much room. Deke was talking to Ramon and a couple of his friends, and she just sat there and watched him. When he didn't have a chance to think too much, he didn't get as shy. She suspected that since they hadn't known him until extremely recently, he didn't feel as intimidated by him.

Barbara heard their footsteps before they sat down. "You shouldn't be sitting by yourself." Someone said to her. When she looked to her side, one of the attendees had taken a seat beside her.

"I'm not." She said tartly, pointing towards her boy. "He brought me."

"Him? Is he expecting to leave with you too?" the guy said, and he obviously thought he was slick, with his undercut hair and expensive shoes. "Because, you are way too much for him."

"I'm sorry you think that way." Barbara said, holding onto her calm. He was squatting, not sitting, but he had his weight shifted wrong, and his hands were resting on his knees, too close in to really catch himself. He'd also been favoring his left side as he walked, indicating some kind of discomfort, which in turn indicated an injury. His breath was an obvious clue he'd been drinking as well. All in all, if he got problematic, she'd have no trouble putting him down and making it look like an accident.

Ramon tapped Deke on the shoulder and nodded her direction. Ramon told him something, and Deke walked over calmly. As he did, he tapped against her thoughts. She wasn't distressed, just mildly annoyed, so that was a good sign. Actually, he realized the day she felt distressed to him was a day he didn't want to see. [I'm sure you got this, but do you want a polite way out?] Deke projected into her mind.

[It'd be better than me hitting him, yeah.] Barbara replied, accustomed to this manner of communication. He didn't use it with her, but in this case it seemed the wise choice.

Deke just wandered over and looked at the guy for a moment before speaking. "Hey man, thanks for keeping her company." He said, offering the guy his hand. "I got caught up back there and she just slipped away."

Surprised at being put on the spot, the guy just shook Deke's hand. "No problem." He said, got up, and wandered off, confused at the whole situation.

Deke sat down next to his girlfriend and put a hand on her knee. "You had three ways of knocking him flat if he'd gotten handsy, didn't you?"

"Please Cowboy, I had five." She said to him and put her hands on his. "Thanks for not going after him, by the way, I appreciate it."

"It would have been a mercy if I had." Deke said, and handed her a bottle of water. "You want to dance with me?"

"You can dance too?" She asked. He said he wanted to keep surprising her, she assumed this was another.

"Not even a little." He said, pressing his forehead to hers and nuzzling her nose. "Don't particularly care either."

"Now that, my lovely, is what I like to hear. Let's dance." She said, walking with him to where the other folks were dancing. True to his word, he was a horrible dancer, but he was careful not to step on her feet at least. That he was willing to try was the important thing to Barbara. She did wonder if she'd dug herself into a hole with her promise earlier though, but only time would answer that.

After their dance, one of the older gentlemen turned the radio down. Barbara recognized him as one of the people Deke had been speaking to a while ago. He, and a couple of others had brought out instrument cases, and when her boy gave a goofy shy grin at her (he got a pass on this one), she had a feeling he was going to do something a bit out of character.

And yes, that's exactly what he was doing as he picked up his guitar and joined them in playing live music. They wandered about, each of the men stopping at a different woman and performing for them. When the older gentleman began playing for his wife, it made Barbara happy to see. She envisioned her dad doing something like this for her mom, the thought making her warm.

Her boy waited until last, and leaned in to speak to the other musicians. Most nodded, and they strolled casually towards her. Deke took a blue flower off a table and handed it to her. She slipped it behind her ear and stood up, even batting her eyes at him a bit. He'd earned it.

When they began to play, she recognized the song from a movie. Malaguena Salerosa, if her memory served. The song was about a poor man who could only offer his love to a woman he was smitten with and she didn't miss the reference.

Once they were finished, one of the older women caught up to Deke and spoke to him for a few minutes, gesturing toward Barbara. When they were done with their quick conversation, he grabbed a plate of finger food and two bottles of aloe water, and sat down beside his date. "So, I have a new aunt now apparently, and she wanted me to tell you that if I get out of line, she'd be happy to set me straight for you. I wasn't allowed to get any of the food she made until I promised to tell you that."

"I like your new aunt." Barbara said, picking a slice of fried and sugared plantain off the plate and popping it into her mouth primly.


	29. Chapter 29 (Lemon Zest)

March 20th  
Gotham City  
0025 EST

Deke and Barbara wandered into the apartment, giggling like grade school kids. They were loaded down with little plates full of food, their hosts insisting they take some home for tomorrow. Given what they left with, they'd be able to eat for a week, and that was after giving a couple of plates to some homeless they'd passed on their way to the train station.

Deke took the plates and put them into the refrigerator while Barbara kicked her shoes off. "Hey Cowboy, come here when you're done." She asked sweetly as she walked into the bedroom. Deke required no additional prompting for that, and followed her in.

"So, I was right." She said simply as she sat on the bed. "You didn't mess anything up, you didn't break anything, you didn't upset anyone."

Deke nodded with a blush "Yep. I just kept telling myself they didn't know me."

Score one more for the profiling skills of Babs Gordon, she thought, patting the bed beside her, beckoning him to join her. When he sat down, she kissed him, leaning into it to gain enough leverage to push him down so that she could follow with him. "A deal's a deal." She whispered in his ear in her sultriest voice as she slipped her legs around to straddle him.

Her boy shuddered at her hot breath in his ear. "So, why don't you relax for me? You've put a lot of effort into satisfying me, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it."

He tried to mutter something, but her kiss cut him off. "Shhh." She said after kissing him again, putting a finger to her lips. The twitching she felt beneath her was clear indication that he was enjoying her behavior, so she ground into him, rotating her hips for good measure.

Deke reached out to touch her, putting his hands on her hips. He was discovering that feeling the muscles in her body move was just as arousing as her grinding, every fiber and sinew rippling in unison, the soft linen skirt sliding over her smooth legs adding to the sensation, which was also doing something for her too.

Barbara pulled her shirt off and then ditched her bra before leaning down against his chest. She'd noticed he enjoyed the sensation, so she let them barely brush against his torso as she slid down his body, trailing her tongue a she did so, and yes, she could consistently give him goosebumps. Since their shared mental experience, she knew he felt as strongly for her as she did him, but seeing him react like this to her touch still made her proud.

Again though, with the belt. She found it much easier since she'd gone into this with a clear head, and made very quick work of it. She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, but waited before pulling them down, teasing him by running her fingers up his abs, letting her fingernails tickle him, and again with the goosebumps. She was on a roll tonight.

Finally, Barbara reached into his shorts and felt him, already quite interested in what she'd been doing. She took hold and gave him a light squeeze before pulling his pants down. He went to assist her, but she brushed his hands away. "I said relax." She said to him in an admonishing voice. Maybe he was into it when she took charge? She'd have to explore that later.

When she reached her goal, she noticed something different about him. As she began licking him, just barely using the tip of her tongue, she reasoned out the difference. He'd clipped and trimmed his own body hair. She almost snickered and pointed out that he'd manscaped because she found the term hilarious, but thought that might spoil the mood.

Of course, given his breathing and noises, he might not have even noticed. As she kept teasing him with licks, she considered what she was doing. She didn't feel degraded at all. He wasn't forcing her to please him. Was it a powerful feeling though? Yeah, it was, but she wasn't the kind of girl to lord power over someone. It was more powerful in that there was a closeness, the kind of closeness that she'd been wanting for a while now. That it came with some very gratifying physical intimacy was just a bonus.

Deke gasped loud when she took him into her mouth, immediately forgetting all language. Okay, maybe seeing him get all derpy did give her a bit of a power thrill. She slowly, painfully slowly, began bobbing her head. It was just as well, because she was in no way experienced enough to move much faster.

Barbara realized she might be overthinking things, and made herself relax as she started stroking him while she worked. She began really using her tongue, trying different spots while she went about her task, trying to remember what seemed to work and what didn't. Remembering communication was key in a relationship, she took her mouth off of him and looked up. "Does this feel good?" She asked, and went back to it before he could answer.

He tried to reply, but could only manage a vague noise, though the response seemed positive. She'd take that as a yes. Barbara alternated between bobbing slowly on him and licking him, also using her lips as well, and had also vaguely become aware that her free hand was drifting further south. On a whim, she pulled her skirt away and touched herself while she pleased her boy. Her panties were soaked through, which wasn't a surprise, her body instinctively wanting to take things to their natural conclusion.

She slid her hand into her panties and ran her finger up and along, and she couldn't suppress a shudder. She knew her body well, since she'd only had herself to rely on before she'd chosen Deke. Before long, she was teasing herself, catching up to her boy.

Deke wasn't sure if it had been five minutes or twenty years. His head was swimming and he really couldn't trust most of his senses. All he could see was her hair, and occasionally her eyes as she glanced up at him. Her attention was incredible though, and he was getting near the edge. "I'm…" he tried to say. "I'm about to finish." Though he wasn't sure what exactly escaped his mouth.

She'd heard him, and that statement had been what she needed to push her over her own edge, her fingertips working small circles around her most sensitive spots. She felt his breath quicken as her climax started, and her noises of pleasure mixed with the more fervent pace she was taking, which seemed to be the last ingredient. "Babs, you might wanna…"

Barbara's orgasm was small, controllable, but also distracting. His, on the other hand, was the opposite of controllable. She felt it twitch once and remembered she was on the business end of the orgasm she was giving him. She couldn't get free of it before he let loose, the first spurt hit her on the cheek, and had she broken him? He just kept going, a few more firing in short arcs into the air to land on his abdomen.

She shook her hair away as she ran her thumb down her cheek, wiping it away. "I am so, sooooo sorry." Deke said, sitting up to see what he'd wrought in climax. She'd never treat him again, he was sure of it.

"I wasn't paying attention," Barbara said, rubbing his lips with the fingers she'd used to satisfy herself. Her scent and taste were unmistakable. She wasn't sure about her face, given that's where she kept her eyes, but she decided she didn't hate the warm feeling on her skin. She'd have to tell him the next time they had sex, right when he was about to finish, and maybe she wouldn't be polite about it.

"You uh, you want me to return the favor?" Deke said, seeming more than happy to do so.

Still extremely turned on, Barbara grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him on top of her. "Yes please, I would like that very much." She told him, running her fingers through his hair as he first gave her nipples a few licks. Instead of crawling straight down though, he pulled her skirt up and slipped his hand into her wet panties.

When his finger began dragging a trail up her slit, he could tell how wet she'd gotten, there was barely any friction to the motion at all. Barbara moaned while he teased her, avoiding her button on purpose. He gave her a few more slow flicks of his fingertip before scooting down her body, pulling her panties down once he'd reached the floor.

From there, he took his time, flickering his tongue as best he could, trying to avoid her anticipating, which wasn't easy. He didn't touch her mind this time, wondering how well he could do off of her natural cues. He also felt a bit bad. She'd taken care of herself first, so she was more responsive than previous.

Deke absently wondered if this felt as good for her, as her performance had felt for him. They'd finished together both times, and they'd been linked to one degree or another too, so this was something completely different, and it amused him to think that what other people considered the normal way to go about sex was unusual to them already.

His ponderings hadn't lasted long either, once he dipped his tongue a little deeper into her. Her scent and taste were mindblowing, and the way her arousal became more and more evident was extremely encouraging.

Barbara squirmed as he teased her, loving the feeling of his tongue against her. When he finally flicked the tip of his tongue against her button, she gasped, and when he kept the pressure on her, it only got worse. She moaned and whimpered as he sought to please her, letting her just enjoy the sensations.

So, when she felt his finger push against her lips and into her opening, she could only react on instinct, her bottom coming off the bed an inch or two. Deke slowly pumped his digit in and out, occasionally bending his finger a bit to stroke her inside walls. When he angled his fingertip up, and she jerked and grabbed his head, he figured he might have stumbled onto something.

"Right there!" She cried out "Don't stop!"

Deke kept his attention focused on her, not sure exactly what he was doing right, so he dedicated himself to absolutely not deviating from it. Barbara bucked hard though, almost thrashing. Her last bit of control was dedicated to grabbing a pillow, and even that barely muted her screams. He was almost worried, not sure if he was actually hurting her, but the way her inner walls were contracting and releasing on his finger seemed more like pleasure than pain.

For Barbara, it was like her whole body was pulsing. Her boy had been making her feel very good, but the moment he hit that spot, the familiar sensation shot through every nerve, spreading from her toes to her head. She was vaguely aware of how bad she was thrashing, and she might still have a hold of his hair with one hand, but she couldn't quite will her body to cooperate.

When the moment hit, she was on fire, seeing only blackness and stars. It felt like she'd exploded, and was sailing through space, suspended in a moment of pure, intense pleasure. To Deke, it was near violent. Her thighs tightened around his head, and her ankles locked behind him. She jerked once, hard, and then screamed long and loud into the pillow as her sex gripped onto his finger like a vice. She released as well, letting out a spurt of her own, which was a hell of a surprise.

When her body finally began relaxing, she could only lay there quivering for a moment, her body shaking in intermittent spasms, leaving her struggling to breathe. Deke tried to touch her leg, but even that light contact was too intense.

It took Barbara a few minutes to completely ride the wave down, and she felt like someone breathing on her might send her into another orgasm, so on edge her nerves were. When she was finally capable of opening her eyes, she saw her boy wiping his face off on a tee shirt, and when she connected the dots, a look of shock crossed her face.

"Did I?" she asked, vaguely gesturing thought she was trying to point.

"Yep." Deke said, snickering. He set the shirt aside to be washed, along with the sheets, because their contributed efforts had left them a horrible mess. "Are you okay though?" He asked as he slid into bed next to her.

Barbara could only nod in reply. Her first climax with him was deep, intense, and almost transcendent. This was more like a wrecking ball, just destroying her for a while. Both were incredibly gratifying, but this one had felt purely physical. Both had their place, but her intense desire to feel close to her boy made her feel like she wanted more of the former.

It took several more minutes for her to recover from it all, before she could fully control her body. All the while Deke just laid next to her, watching her. He wanted to touch her, at least stroke her hair, but her reaction was too strong to it. He had a feeling he knew the answer, but he also felt like it didn't hurt to ask. "You ready to keep going?"

"No, I'm… I'm good now. All good now." She said, finally able to roll over and look at him. "Maybe we save that for special evenings until I'm more used to it, okay?"

"Just say the word darlin'." He told her.


	30. Chapter 30

March 23rd  
Happy Harbor  
1320 EST

The next few days had been busy ones. Barbara had wanted to spend some more time with her dad before she had to head to Happy Harbor, which actually worked out well for Deke since he'd wanted to take the time to check in on Miss Halston after her rescue at the hands on Batman and Robin. Then they both prepared for the move, which was remarkably easy for both of them. Deke could carry all he could own in a gym bag and guitar case, and all Barbara needed was a new costume, which Batman had ready for her in next to no time.

Since he wouldn't have his tryout for the team until after Barbara's month on call was over, Deke couldn't reside in their base. Again, showing his ability to be a very solid kind of guy, Nightwing had set him up with a small rental cottage. It was barely the same size as the apartment, but it had given Deke one hell of a view.

He'd resided there alone for a couple of days while Barbara was getting brought up to speed on the team's activities, time he spent getting to know the town. It was a small New England community, which sat very strange with him. Their accents were just plain weird, but they were nice enough people, which led Deke to think small town America was the same anywhere you went.

He was sitting on the beach, just watching the water and absently strumming his guitar, when Barbara had returned. She walked up and sat down next to him, before stealing a kiss from him. "Hey beautiful." He said to her, handing her a bottle of aloe water. He had developed something of an addiction to them, and tried to keep a cooler full of the smaller bottles whenever he came out to sit on the sand.

"Hey Cowboy." She said, opening the bottle and taking a sip. "You and I need to have a discussion."

"Are you pregnant, breaking up with me, or seeing someone else?" He asked, still looking far away at the water.

"No, no, and no." Barbara replied. "A few of us had a discussion, and you need to come up with a costume and a name."

"Okay." Deke drawled and turned in the sand to better face his girl. "Well, I've got the costume pieces bookmarked, but I'd be blowing every bit of my money. As for the name, I dunno, I hadn't thought about it. I suppose wandering around calling myself Captain Hilljack might not work too well."

Barbara giggled at her boy. "No, I don't think so. Mine was easy; I was working with an established hero. Most of us had it easy actually. I tell you what though; I'll help you narrow it down, sound good?"

"Sure, go for it." Deke said, grateful for the help.

"Ok, so Superman once said that while we're here to help people, our real mission is to inspire. He inspires hope in good people. Batman inspires fear in, well, everyone actually. What do you want to inspire in people?" She asked, feeling like she was reading some awful checklist from a job interview.

Deke pondered that a moment, though the answer was right in front of him. "Confidence. You're helping me with mine, and I want to give that back."

Barbara colored a bit pink at that and kissed him on the nose before she continued on. "So, Flash calls himself that because he's quick as a flash, and he will not stop making that joke. Green Lantern is very literal, but that's because it's also his job. Nightwing chose his because he used to be Robin, and we all work in the darkness. So, sometimes the name is power descriptive, and sometimes it's thematic."

Deke puzzled that over for a while. Barbara could see her boy's eyes go distant while he mulled it over. "I want something that doesn't exactly advertise my powers. Like, Superboy shows up, and you pretty much know what you're getting from him. Kid Flash shows up and you can expect he'll be moving pretty quick. I don't want to show up and people immediately know I'm a psychic. They'll figure it out soon enough I suppose, but any little bit helps."

"Misdirection? I think I'm rubbing off on you." Barbara said, actually quite pleased with him for the decision. A lot of powered heroes learn far too late that they can't always rely on their gifts, it looked like she'd caught him early enough to not immediately want to default to them. "So what then, if not immediately descriptive?"

"Well, it's more important to me what my name is, right? If I do well, then people won't care. If I do badly, there's more to take after me than that. I want something that describes how I feel when I'm using my powers."

"So, how does it feel?" Barbara said, scooting closer to him. She had both a professional and personal interest in his answer. She'd assumed it would be like breathing, because that's how it was for M'gann. She never thought to ask him how it felt, which left her a bit annoyed with herself.

"It's wild. I don't really open up, okay? I never really do cut loose because I can kinda feel the world around me. All the thoughts and feelings of people, and when I go full bore, I feel like I'm off the chain, just running wild. It's one of the few ways I actually do feel confident, but it can get outta hand too." Deke said, sounding almost wistful.

"So, something confident and wild?" Barbara asked him. "What does that bring to mind?"

"I'll be damned." Deke muttered. She'd guided him to something perfectly obvious and he felt foolish for not thinking of it sooner. "I got it."

When Barbara arched an eyebrow at him, he told her. "Mustang. It's a muscle car, it's a horse, it's an old fighter plane. Plus I'm from Kentucky and we have all the horses."

Barbara mulled that over. It wasn't evocative of his powers unless you knew him. Horses tended to be seen as powerful, proud creatures. She was going to say something about people associating him with the car, until she snapped the pieces of evidence together. She pulled out her phone, and did a quick image search, pulling up a picture and holding it face down.

"Ok, so, if this is even remotely close to your costume, you've got to make me ropa vieja again." She said, and showed him a picture of a guy in a long rider coat and cowboy hat.

"I'll be a son of a bitch." Deke said, shaking his head. He was intimately involved with a detective though. "You win Cuban food."

A part of Barbara was extremely pleased at his choice to go with a cowboy theme. What had started as a very off the cuff comment from her had become something he wore with pride. There was a nagging jealousy as well though. As far as she was concerned, he was her cowboy, and she didn't necessarily want to share that with anyone, and apparently that's what he'd meant about belonging to one another, these little things between them.

Still, she couldn't be upset, not rationally anyway. "I'm not half bad at what I do." She said, and stood up, dusting the sand off. "And, speaking of things I do, I might be able to help with your costume. Batman gets the material we use in our capes in these huge bolts. It's lightweight, but it's insulated, and until it's treated, it's actually really easy to work with."

"I wouldn't say no. Patterns are cheap." Deke said, taking her hand. He'd still have to order the hat though, but that wasn't such a big deal. He wouldn't want to wear a bona fide Stetson into a fight with some crazy supervillain, so going with something less expensive and easier to replace seemed a wiser choice.

"They are, and there's some more." Barbara said, looking forward to the next bit. "One of the conditions of my month of light duty is that I spend time preparing you. Batman will be watching, so will Black Canary, and probably Martian Manhunter. They have final say, though Nightwing, Mal, and probably Robin will have opinions that will be taken into account, and they'll be responsible for setting up your tryout. It would have been me, but…" She said, and pondered her next choice of words. "But our relationship is common knowledge now. When I found out, I recused myself."

"So, you're going to prep me for a gig, but you won't know what the gig is? Wouldn't that be cheating anyway?" Deke asked, obviously not wanting to get Barbara in trouble.

"No, because I have to anticipate Nightwing and Robin and figure out your limits too, so it's just more training for me, at Batman's insistence. Besides, the first thing I can teach you is this; When it comes to your enemies, always cheat. They have no compunctions about it, so why should you?" Barbara explained. "Sometimes, you'll run across someone with a specific code, like R'as al Ghul. Use it to your advantage."

"Ok, sounds fun. What else?" Deke asked, trying to wrap his head around their plans.

Barbara glance up and out of the corner of her eyes and pursed her lips in thought. "It depends on you. Basic self-defense in case you're in a position where you can't use your powers is important. You can drive a car but teaching you how to operate a motorcycle would be both fun and useful. I'll definitely have to get you up to speed on a lot of the major players we deal with. I'll also have to figure out ways for you to practice using your powers productively."

"Alright, I'm game. Sounds like it'll be a busy month." Deke said. He could use the activity though, and spending time with his girl was always exciting. He stood up and offered her a hand. She accepted and got her feet with that liquidity that he founds so attractive. Deke picked up his things and walked to the door with her.

"So, we got that out of the way. There's just one more thing we need to do." Barbara said as he opened the door for her to enter the little cottage, gesturing for her to enter in the most gentlemanly way he knew how.

"Whazzat?" He asked, following her in.

"We've had several busy days apart, and if you hadn't noticed, I enjoy being close to you." She said with a romantic gleam in her eye. "So, if you'd be so kind as to make love to me, I think that would be very welcome."

"I think I can manage." Deke said, and picked her up to carry her to the bedroom.


	31. Chapter 31

April 18th  
Happy Harbor  
1000 EST

Aside of a break on Deke's birthday, the rest of the month had been spent with little to no pausing. He and Barbara had used the wooded terrain north of Happy Harbor to work on the more physical aspects of his training, and spent a lot of time in the cottage on the mental pursuits. Barbara had stuck to her goal though, and had devoted most a week to getting him comfortable enough on a motorcycle that he could pass the licensing test, a week filled with her frustration and his disappointment more than anything. He had his good qualities, but her boy was just not the most physically coordinated person.

Barbara tested his limits a lot in this time, often without letting him know. She would specifically choose distracting outfits, and used her knowledge of what flipped his switch against him. She'd have him lifting boulders and randomly drop something, seeing if she could break his concentration when she bent over to pick it up, and other such techniques. The day arrived though, that she tried this, about to accidentally spill some water on her white shirt, when the bottle wouldn't tip and she heard his voice in her thoughts saying Gotcha.

He was learning, and she was proud.

Together, they pushed him, hard. It was fitting he'd chosen to name himself after a horse, because she was working him like one. She admired that he refused to quit, and hoped that was an attitude that he kept in all things, and not just to impress her. It wasn't just the physical either; she tested his mind heavily as well.

One evening, they'd gone grocery shopping, and she flat out told him that she was going to pick someone's pocket. Afterwards, she'd made an effort to only think in French so that he would have a harder time listening in on who she chose to pickpocket.

He'd spent the whole trip observing her, watching her interact with her environment like a hawk, trying to spot the moment she'd make her move, but frustratingly, by the time they were in line to check out, he hadn't seen it. When he went to pay for his groceries, and she handed him his own money to make his purchases, he knew she'd gotten him. That had earned him a lecture, but he could at least handle it from her. She wasn't afraid to tell him how he screwed up, but she also knew how to talk to him, always offering advice. She was trying to help him be a better version of himself, and he couldn't be upset about that.

They tried making some personal time for themselves; sometimes it was just quick breaks for food, occasionally a whole evening. The stress of his preparations was taking a toll though. They fought occasionally, mostly over one or both of them being too stubborn. If they couldn't make up, there'd be an uncomfortable day or two. If they were able to get over themselves though, it tended to help that stress level considerably when the took the time to make up.

They were both drained, emotionally and mentally, as they neared the day of his test. Barbara considered her work, and while any extra effort would help, the cost wouldn't be worth it, so she pulled the plug, so to speak, three days beforehand, to let both of them rest and recuperate.

When Deke had woken up the next morning and found her still asleep, he'd thought she was testing him. He got out of bed anyway, used his powers to shake the aches from his body, and got dressed to go for his morning run and swim. When she'd put her hand on his shoulder and told him to come back to bed, he'd argued it, but when she insisted, he capitulated and laid back down with her.

When they both got out of bed a few hours later, they had a very long talk over a late breakfast. There was swearing, there was crying, but in the end, there was catharsis, and after catharsis, there was intimacy. They'd made love, and laughed and giggled the whole time, finally free of the pressure. When it was over, which had come by surprise, they laughed more.

They filled the days with more laughter, more lovemaking, more goofing off, more of just being close. After a month of near constant pressure, it was absolutely necessary, and as they discussed over dinner, showed remarkable promise for their relationship. They'd also bonded over making his first costume. She knew her way around a sewing machine, and apparently, he did too, but neither were confident enough in their skills to call themselves good at it. She'd already been planning on surprising him with a more advanced version, probably for Christmas, so while it wasn't perfect, it would suffice.

On the morning of his test, Barbara decided to wake him to an athlete's breakfast, and had even helped him with his hair after his shower, a task he insisted on reciprocating. When he walked into the main cavern area of Mount Justice, standing tall and cutting an impressive figure, she beamed with pride.

"Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair." She said, so proud. He'd come so far from that almost cripplingly shy boy to a real hero, and he'd been there for her, letting her relax and take the mask off.

* * *

"After consideration, you will not be added to this team's roster." Batman said after a four hour meeting with Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Robin, Nightwing, and Captain Atom, someone the team had been extremely surprised to see show up to the test.

Barbara was standing next to Deke, and could actually feel his disappointment before she saw his shoulders slump back into his usual slouch. She felt a white hot fury rising in her chest, and could tell Miss Martian, who had been involved through most of his test, felt the same. He'd put her through her paces, and while she was undoubtedly the more powerful telepath, she'd found his performance acceptable, and he'd done things telekinetically that were still well beyond her, meaning they were good to cover each other's weaknesses.

Breaking every bit of protocol, she took his hand, mostly to keep from calling the League members every horrible thing she wanted to call them. Canary caught this, and shot Barbara a look. It wasn't admonishing though, more sly, like she knew something that Barbara didn't.

Captain Atom spoke up then, stepping just in front of Batman. "Mustang, instead of being placed with this team, I am selecting you for a project of my own design. Based off this team's successes, I am forming a group of big hitters and movers, to handle disaster relief and large object threats. Like this team, the group you would belong to, would be subject for review to join the Justice League when we believe your skills have reached an acceptable level. Do you accept this offer?"

And just like that, Barbara's fury subsided, and her boy drew himself back up to full. "Yessir. I'd be honored." He said, not sure if there was anything else he needed to say.

"Excellent. Other members of this team are being reviewed. Once we have a final roster, you will join them. Until then, you will remain here to continue training. Details will be forthcoming." Captain Atom said, walking across the training floor and shaking Deke's hand. "Welcome aboard, Mustang. As a pilot, I appreciate the name by the way."

"Thank you sir." Deke said, and watched the League members leave. He absently wondered if he'd get one of those cool recognize things from the Zeta tubes.

Once they'd gone, several members of the team offered congratulations. M'gann and Beast Boy were huggers, as was Wondergirl. Mal Duncan was more of a handshake type, but from what little experience Deke had with him, he liked the guy. Finally, Nightwing approached him, and also offered a handshake.

When Deke took his offered hand, he spoke up. "Hey, got a second?" He asked. Nightwing nodded and pointed towards a corner. Both men walked over, and Deke leaned against the wall, considering his words.

"So, Batgirl tells me that you were pretty instrumental in seeing things get this far for me. I want to say thank you for your help, it means a lot to me." He finally said, deciding on the simpler approach.

It was Nightwing's turn to consider his thoughts, speaking when he'd collected his words and not before. "I've known Batgirl for years. We were friends when we were kids, and we've grown up under the mask. When you owned responsibility for what had happened to her, I respected the hell out of that. Now, you're helping get her out of her own head and blow off steam, which she needed. I'd say it's a fair trade."

"Yep. You need me, give me a holler, I'd be happy to lend a hand." Deke said, casting a glance at his girl.

"Will do." Nightwing replied. "Now go celebrate."

Deke didn't need to be asked twice. He went to Barbara, took her hands, and kissed her, keeping it more publicly safe.

"Get back in your civilian clothes," She said, whispering in his ear. "I want to take you somewhere."

"Where we going?" He asked.

"I want to introduce you to my dad, if you're okay with it." She replied. "Then, who knows. Maybe we can do a patrol together?"

"Is that all?" Deke asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, Cowboy, that is not all." She said, letting her intentions be known.


End file.
